Company of Wolves
by Mister Cynical
Summary: In a world without the Third Impact, Shinij Ikari has grown into a new man. A man similiar to his mentor and father figure, Kaji Ryoji.
1. Chapter 0

I don't own anything.

Company of Wolves

-Chapter Zero:

Shinji Ikari stared out his hotel room window and sipped his coffee. He winced at the acidic taste and frowned as something exploded somewhere close. "What a pain in the ass." Down on the street two men dashed from an alleyway. One of them was carrying the unmistakable bulky form of a rocket launched. He dropped to a knee and the second man glanced behind them before tapping his partner's helmeted head.

The anti-tank gunner fired and Shinji's head twisted sharply as he tried to follow the path of the rocket. He watched it slam into the rear of an APC as the vehicle's back doors dropped to disgorge the soldiers inside. Shinji was forced to look away as the armored vehicle exploded violently. He looked at it carefully and spotted a red triangle painted on it. "Rebel forces." His cell phone vibrated suddenly and he poked the call button on his Bluetooth headset. "Shinji Ikari speaking. How may I help you?"

"It's me," the man on the other end of the line stated.

"Hey Kaji," Shinji replied as he sipped his coffee. He turned away as a burning form staggered out of the wreck. "What's up?"

"I wanted to talk to you about the job for the Agency," Kaji Ryoji stated.

"I'm all over it," Shinji replied as he drained his coffee and tossed the Styrofoam cup in the trash. He reached into his duffel bag and pulled out the old leather shoulder holster holding his even older suppressed PB pistol. Shinji shrugged the holster on and dug a couple clips out of his bag too.

"I don't know if you've heard, but the rebels have sprung their coup earlier than anticipated," Kaji stated. Another explosion went off, this one close enough to rock the floor under Shinji's feet.

"You don't say," he replied as he stuffed the magazines into one of his cargo pockets and drew his weapon. He tugged the slide back and examined the weapon's innards before letting it snap shut around the first round.

"I don't want you to go into that country," Kaji stated.

"I've been in war zones before," Shinji commented. He de-cocked the weapon, put it on safe, and holstered it again.

"You knew those would be war zones," Kaji stated. "You need time to get new equipment and we need better Intel."

"I can't argue there," Shinji stated as he sat down and pulled up the leg of his khaki trousers to check the MSP derringer he had been wearing there since he had arrived in this city. "More gear would be nice. I feel distinctly under gunned here." There was a fairly lengthy paused before Kaji spoke again.

"Where are you?"

"In the target city," Shinji stated. He stood up and pulled on his sports jacket and international press pass. "I told you, I'm all over this." He pulled on his gloves and sunglasses as he started towards the door. He needed to get out of the hotel before the loyalist troops tried to evacuate him. It wasn't that he couldn't deal with them; it was just that he didn't have enough ammo. Shinji was a staunch martialist. He never got into a fight where he didn't have the upper hand.

"You didn't set the coup off, did you?" Shinji paused and thought about that one.

"Not this time," he replied after a moment. "I am good enough to sneak in without starting a damn war every time."

"You don't have the equipment for this," Kaji stated.

"I have all the equipment I need," Shinji argued. "I just don't have the equipment I need to make this easy." He pulled his door open and peaked out into the hallway. It was completely empty. "Besides, I have a way in."

"How long have you been in the city?" Kaji asked.

"About eight days," Shinji replied as he walked to the fire escape and pushed the door open. He stepped out onto the rickety metal construct and quickly rolled up his jacket's sleeves. Why did he always get deployed so damned close to the equator? The heat was unbearable.

"Eight days and you have a way in?" Kaji asked. "That's fast."

"I was taught by the best," Shinji replied truthfully as he slid down the ladder. He dropped to the ground and disappeared into an alleyway. "Listen, I have to go."

"Alright," Kaji replied. "When you get out of there, we've got something new to talk about." Shinji paused. Kaji usually wasn't so coy. It intrigued him.

"What kind of something new?"

"The kind we can't talk about over the phone," Kaji stated. Shinji frowned.

"Now I'm curious."

"Deal with it," Kaji replied. "Oh, and what's the name of this way in?"

"Her name is Allesa. She's a secretary in the archive building. She has amazing green eyes."

"I have taught you well." Kaji hung up and Shinji smirked. He dug his cell phone out and punched the power button. It just wouldn't do to be interrupted on the job. He was much too professional for that.

(:ii:)

Shinji glanced out of his alleyway and frowned. He had been hoping the fighting wouldn't have reached here yet. Instead of being peaceful, the street was full of ruined vehicles and other signs of war. Thankfully the fighting had apparently moved on.

Shinji sprinted across the street and into the reception area of the archive building. He closed the glass door quietly and looked around. There were bullet holes in the walls and decorative columns. "Damn it."

"Is someone there?" Shinji whipped around, his PB in his hand almost before he had even comprehended that there was someone else in the room.

"Who's there?"

"Please, I've been shot." Shinji considered the voice.

"Allesa?"

"Michael?" Shinji peaked over the large receptionist desk. His way in was sprawled on the other side with a hand clamped over her bloodied blouse.

"Oh God." Shinji discreetly holstered his pistol and clambered over the desk.

"Thank God," Allesa gasped. "Soldiers just burst through the door and began firing. . ."

"It's okay," Shinji interrupted soothingly. He gently pulled Allesa's hand from her side and inspected the wound. The blood leaking from it slowly was almost black. "It's okay. We're going to find you help." Allesa smiled dopily up at him. How long had she been laying here loosing blood?

"I kept praying you'd find me," she whispered.

"And I did," Shinji replied kindly as he hugged her to him. He glanced around. How much longer would he have to wait? She had been willing to help, so he didn't want to just leave her. "You're going to be fine. I promise."

"I love you, Michael," she stated. Her voice was so soft he had to lean forward to hear her. Shinji smiled down at her.

"I love you too." She smiled and seemed to fade, her amazing green eyes going dull. Shinji checked her pulse and lowered her to the ground. "Shit." Now this job had just gotten complicated. "Good for you, babe. You got to die thinking I loved you. I, on the other hand, get to wander around this fucking building looking for the hidden vault. Yay for me. God damn it."

"Freeze!" Shinji froze. He had let his guard down. "Stand up slowly and put your hands in the air." Shinji stood slowly and raised his arms. He turned to the man and noted, with relief, that the soldier lacked the red armband of the rebel forces. "I didn't tell you to turn around!" the young soldier snapped.

"Please," Shinji pleaded. Had the soldier overheard him? If so, he was fucked. "My wife is hurt. I need to find her help." The soldier shot a quick glance at Allesa and than his eyes swept over Shinji's press pass. "She's going to die!" The muzzle of the weapon lowered a hair.

"I have some training," the soldier stated. "I'll see what. . ." Shinji was across the table between them in a heart beat. He trapped the assault rifle's muzzle under his right arm, the weapon pointing harmlessly behind him, and wrapped his left arm around the soldier's neck to pull his close. The five-inch stiletto didn't make a sound as it slipped out of its sheath and it was equally silent when Shinji stuck it into the man's chest, the slender blade slipping between his ribs and into his heart.

"Sorry pal." Shinji let the soldier go and he dropped without a twitch. "I'm too busy to play along with the good guys." Shinji wiped the blade clean and slipped it back into the sheath clipped to the inside of his jacket. He took the soldier's rifle and slung it over his own shoulder. It looked bad and would hurt his cover as a reporter, but being covered in blood would do the same. "Guess I know how I have to deal with everyone else I run into." Shinji tucked his press pass into his pocket and began looking around for a map. "What a pain in the ass."

(:ii:)

Kaji leaned heavily on his cane and watched as the old Red Cross plane's rear cargo ramp dropped. The evacuated foreigners poured out to meet the waiting crowd with a cheer as the news cameras rolled. Kaji spotted the man he was looking for rather easily. He just moved different than the others. "There he is."

"Where?"

"Right there," Kaji stating, pointing his protégé out to his boss. Janet Goldman squinted at the mass of humanity and her jaw dropped.

"Oh my God. What is he wearing?" Kaji stared at the younger man's outfit and wondered that himself. Shinji was wearing heavily worn and ripped jeans, a Save the Whales T-shirt and sandals.

"I have no idea." Shinji caught his eye and began cutting his way through the crowd towards them.

"Oh damn. He looks pretty bad. Maybe we should pass the job to Jean-Luc," Janet stated.

"He does look pretty bad," Kaji agreed. Shinji's left arm was in a sling and there was a large white bandage taped over his left cheek. "We don't have the time to drive back to the office and get him." Shinji stepped up to them and Kaji grinned. "Hey Shinji."

"Hello," Shinji returned. He eyed Janet, one eyebrow rising slightly. "Hello ma'am. What are you doing here?"

"I was planning on giving you the brief on your next mission," Janet replied. "In light of your injuries, maybe you should reconsider."

"My injuries aren't that bad," Shinji replied. He reached into his sling and withdrew his hand just enough to show the butt of a pistol.

"Oh."

"Let's continue this in the car," Shinji stated. Kaji nodded and turned to lead the way.

"I like the outfit," he commented offhandedly.

"Shut up," Shinji ordered. Kaji chuckled as he led them to the airport's parking lot and reached into his pocket for his keys. He thumbed the remote and climbed into his nice, plain company car. "Why did you come here for the briefing?" Shinji asked as he climbed into the back.

"If you really want this job, we don't even have time to go back to the office," Janet stated. "We grabbed your bag for you. It's in the trunk."

"Thanks," Shinji replied. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to catch the UNS Argyle before she departs tomorrow for Japan," Janet stated.

"The super carrier?" Shinji asked. "Won't it be quicker to fly? The Argyle is too big for the Suez or the Panama. It'd have to circumnavigate."

"The carrier is the mission," Janet stated. "At least, it's the first part of the mission. You'll be a bodyguard on the way over and an investigator once you get there."

"Who am I investigating?" Shinji asked.

"NERV," Kaji stated. "The UN thinks that it's corrupt. Imagine that."

"Do I have any limitations?" Shinji asked. Kaji wasn't sure if the eagerness in the younger man's voice was a good thing.

"Just get the information the UN wants," Janet stated. "This is an open mission, no cover story. You're just plain old Shinji Ikari from plain old Lupo Cattivo, Limited."

"There's nothing plain or old about me," Shinji commented, "unlike a certain old spy."

"You don't get to be an old spy without being damned good," Kaji shot back.

"Is that permission to use lethal force?" Shinji asked, turning back to Janet.

"Just get the information," Janet repeated. Kaji shot a look in his rearview mirror and frowned when he saw Shinji's grin. "And try not to start a war."

"That wasn't me!" Shinji exclaimed. He scratched his chin and thought for a moment before adding, "at least not this time."

"And one more thing Ikari."

"Yes?"

"Burn that outfit."

"Yes ma'am."

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. I do believe this may be my first ever prologue. I've had this idea for a long time. What would Shinji be like if he had spent more time with Kaji. Note, this is a post-series, not an AU. Shinji is the new Kaji. This is going to be fun.


	2. Chapter 1

I don't own anything.

Company of Wolves

-Chapter One:

Asuka Sohryu glanced down at the file in her lap and yawned. Spending four hours flying over water was a lot less interesting than flying over land. "We've got the fleet in sight, ma'am!" the pilot called back.

"Where's the carrier?" Asuka asked, scanning the water below.

"God you're oblivious," Misato Katsuragi commented.

"Shut up," Asuka shot back as she stared at the carrier fleet sprawling below them. How had she missed that? The VTOL's tilt engine began to pivot and the aircraft's speed dropped.

"We have clearance to land," the pilot reported unnecessarily as the aircraft carrier grew quickly from the size of a postage stamp to the size of several football fields.

"It looks like the Rainbow," Asuka commented.

"The Argyle is a Rainbow-Class super carrier," Misato stated. "There are only six ships of that class in existence right now because of the peace time budget." The VTOL touched down smoothly and the crew chief hauled its side door open, filling the cabin with the engine's high pitched whine.

"Watch your step ladies!" he called over the racket. Asuka gathered up her file and stepped down onto the Argyle's deck with Misato close behind her. The VTOL's engines cut out and a small tractor came out to tow it away.

"God, I forgot how big these things were!" Asuka exclaimed.

"I know," Misato agreed. "Hey! There's Misha!" Asuka spun and grinned as she saw the young blond charging at her. She grabbed the younger woman and gave her a tight hug.

"It's great to see you!" Asuka exclaimed. "How have you been?"

"I've been great," Misha stated as she backed away, "but the trip was so boring! If it wasn't for Shinji, I would have gone crazy!"

"Shinji?" Asuka demanded.

"Uh huh," Misha replied. "He's this great guy they sent to be my bodyguard."

"A bodyguard," Misato parroted. Asuka glanced back at her. "For a second there I thought she was. . ."

"Yeah," Asuka agreed. "So, where is he?" Misha looked around and pouted.

"He was here a minute ago," she stated.

"We'll look for him later," Asuka stated as she held up her file. "I need to deliver this to the ship's Captain immediately."

"Alright," Misha stated. "I can show you the way."

"I know my way around," Asuka countered as she set off with the two other women in tow. "So, this Shinji guy is your bodyguard?"

"Yeah," Misha almost squealed. "He's a mercenary!"

"A mercenary?" Asuka asked with some distaste as she opened a hatch and frowned as a stairwell appeared in a place she didn't remember it being in.

"Well, he really doesn't like that name," Misha replied. "He says that he's from a legitimate private security company named Lupo Cattivo, Limited."

"I've heard of them," Misato commented as she took the lead of the expedition through the massive carrier's superstructure. "The UN has been using them for years. They're good guys."

"They're still civilians fighting for money," Asuka stated. "Only soldiers fighting for a country should be allowed to fight."

"He's really nice!" Misha protested. "You'll like him."

"Good afternoon Sub-Commander." Asuka turned and stared at the skinny lieutenant who had appeared out of nowhere and was currently staring down his nose at her. "The Admiral has sent me to tell you that he is busy and requests that you await him outside the bridge." Asuka scowled. So, the old man wanted to make her wait?

"I think I'd prefer if we waited in the mess hall," Asuka stated. "That flight has made me rather hungry." The lieutenant's eye's widened.

"Asuka," Misato began warningly.

"You'll come get us when he's free, won't you?" Asuka asked. The lieutenant sputtered something and Asuka grabbed both Misato and Misha to lead them away.

"What did I tell you about picking fights?" Misato asked.

(:ii:)

Asuka frowned as she leaned heavily against the rail. She had forgotten just how sick the smell of a ship's mess hall made her. "You look a little green."

"Shut up," Asuka growled. The man laughed at her and Asuka turned to glare at him. He was a little taller than her with a baseball cap pulled low over his face and sunglasses obscuring his features. Even with them, he didn't look like military personnel. "Who are you?"

"I'm nobody important," the man stated. Asuka's eyes glanced at the patch sewn onto the front of his cap. It was a snarling wolf with the words Lupo Cattivo, Limited sewn around the top edge and the letters NOYFB at the bottom. "So, what's in the basket, Red?" Asuka glanced down at the file still under her arm.

"Papers for the Admiral," she stated. "So, you're Shinji. Misha won't stop talking about you."

"Sweet girl," Shinji stated. "I must admit, she's grown on me a wee bit." The door behind Asuka clanged open and she turned to see Misato stepping out of the mess hall.

"That Lieutenant's back," she stated. "You feeling better?"

"Yeah," Asuka replied. She turned back to Shinji and frowned as she discovered that he had slipped away.

"Something wrong?"

"I just ran into Misha's Shinji. He did that ninja disappearing act that those Section-2 spooks are so proud of." Misato laughed.

"A friend of mine used to do that all the time," she stated as she ushered Asuka back in. "He thought it was a great way to get the girls and he was right."

"The Admiral is ready to see you now," the lieutenant stated. He had developed a rather pronounced tick in his left eye.

"Well, lead the way," Asuka ordered. The man's tick went into overdrive.

(:ii:)

"Be nice," Misato stated as the lieutenant pushed the heavy hatch open. Asuka stepped in and flashed a smile at the oldest looking man on the bridge.

"Good afternoon, Admiral! Permission to come aboard?"

"It's not like I have any real say in the matter," the old man grated as he turned back to the window overlooking the flight deck below. Asuka's eyebrow twitched at the man's casual dismissal. She was the god damned Sub-Commander of NERV! Nobody treated her like that.

"Easy," Misato cut in, placing a hand on her shoulder. Asuka took a deep breath and managed to slap her biggest smile back on. She managed to walk over to the old man and hand him the file without slamming it into his stomach, too hard.

"Watch yourself Sub-Commander!" Apparently, her idea of hard and the Admiral's idea of hard differed.

"Ah chill out." Asuka turned at the new voice and felt all the air in her lungs disappear. The man leaning against the doorframe was rather tall and lanky looking with long dark brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and a thick six o'clock shadow forming on his face. There was a baseball cap and sunglasses clutched in his hand.

"You would do well to watch yourself as well Mister Ikari!" the Admiral snapped.

"I'm always respectful to the Captain, right ma'am?" Shinji asked, flashing a bright grin to a decidedly-bored woman. Her rather severe countenance cracked slightly and she smiled back.

"I'll give you that at least," she stated. "Though I must reiterate, I have a husband." Shinji chuckled at that.

"Shinji!" Misha cried as she almost flew across the bridge to tackle the man around his waist. He looked up at Asuka and gave her a crooked grin as he awkwardly patted Misha on the head.

"You know, I never gave Kaji the credit he deserved," he stated. "It's hard to look cool with a teenager hanging from your hips."

"Shinji?" Asuka finally managed to wheeze.

"Hey Asuka."

"Shinji!" Misato cried.

"Oh, damn," Shinji managed to get out before Misato, much larger than Misha, slammed into him and knocked him, herself, and Misha out of the room and into the hallway beyond.

"Control your subordinates, Sub-Commander," the Admiral ordered.

"Sure thing," Asuka shot back as she ran after said subordinates.

(:ii:)

"Where the hell have you been?" Shinji just flashed his preferred smile at the irate redhead and discreetly tried to disengage the blond from his side. It proved relatively futile until he shoved a cafeteria tray into her arms.

"Here and there," he returned, "just about everywhere." That was true enough. His job did land him just about everywhere. There were always new secrets to be learned and old secret keepers to be taken care of.

"What do you mean by that?" Misato asked.

"Pretty much exactly what I said," Shinji stated. He flashed his smile at the rather homely cook and she turned a lovely shade of red, even after all this time, as she ladled today's gourmet military food onto his tray. He led the way towards and empty table with Misha quickly taking the seat by his side. Misato sat down across from him and Shinji noticed the youngest woman's glare. Either she hadn't taken too kindly to being sandwiched between the older woman and Shinji on the bridge, or she was jealous. It was almost cute, in an annoying kind of way.

"Why didn't you ever try to contact us?" Misato demanded.

"I've been very busy," Shinji replied.

"He's a mercenary," Misha stated.

"Contractor," Shinji corrected automatically. "I'm not a mercenary. Mercenaries work for anybody, I'm very selective."

"You look kind of like a mercenary," Misato commented, reaching across the table to playfully tug at his hair. Shinji batted her hands away and touched his hair himself with a frown.

"I hate it this long, but I'm not letting one of those hack Jarhead barbers near it," he stated. "I don't look very good bald. Take my word on that."

"I bet there's an interesting story behind that," Misato stated.

"Lice," Shinji stated. He noticed the looks on all of their faces. "I was in a backwater town in South America," he stated. "Everybody had it. Plus, it was hot."

"What were you doing in a place like that?" Asuka demanded.

"This and that," Shinji replied, "for so and so."

"You seem to enjoy being vague," Misato commented. Leave it to her to catch on to his habits so quickly. She wasn't NERV's tactical officer for her looks.

"Comes with the job," he replied as he paused to shovel food into his mouth. He finished quickly and leaned back in his chair. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small plastic bottle. "Here."

"What's this?" Asuka asked.

"Motion sickness," Shinji replied.

"I'm fine!" Shinji used a finger to nudge Misha's full plate towards the redhead. She turned a rather amazing shade of white and quickly opened the bottle.

"So, you have a new crop of pilots?" Shinji asked.

"Only those born post Second Impact are able to pilot," Asuka stated. "And some of our former pilots decided to disappear."

"Why children then?" Shinji asked.

"I'm not a child!" Misha yelled.

"Of course," Shinji replied, ruffling her hair.

"Children have a higher ability to synch than adults," Asuka explained. Shinji stared at her.

"So, it had nothing to do with children being easier to manipulate?" he asked. Asuka's eyes widened.

"What do you mean. . ."

"Nothing," Shinji replied, interrupting Misato mid question as he flashed the woman a bright, meaningless grin. She stared at him for a long moment.

"You remind me of someone," she commented.

"Who?" Shinji asked. He had an idea, having been compared to the man he was sure Misato was thinking of many times. Misato quickly seemed to withdraw into herself at the question.

"Nobody."

"Oh."

(:ii:)

"Do you know them?" Shinji glanced at the young woman by his side and ruffled her hair again. He had to admit, the young lady had grown on him a bit.

"I used to," he replied. He glanced back at where Misato and Asuka were inspecting the new Evangelion that the fleet had been transporting. "Unit Eight."

"Isn't it great?" Misha asked.

"I hate it," Shinji replied. Misha's face fell. "Don't take it personally. Several people very close to me were hurt by Evangelions."

"Who?" Misha pushed. Shinji laughed. She was always trying to dig his past out of him.

"Myself for starters." Misato turned away from the massive white machine and walked over to them.

"I hate these new units," she stated. "There's just something about them."

"Hm," Shinji hummed in agreement.

"You haven't asked us what we've been doing." Shinji shot a glance at the woman out of the corner of his eye. "You've been gone for so long, but you haven't asked what's been happening."

"I know what's been happening," Shinji stated. Misato stared hard at him, obviously not taking his comment as a joke. Her instincts were excellent. He would have to be careful around her, perhaps remove her from the game altogether. Asuka moved to join them.

"God these things are hideous!"

"I thought yours was the production type," Shinji commented.

"So did I," Asuka agreed. "Even your Eva was better looking and it had that stupid horn and that horrid paint job."

"Your Eva?" Misha shrieked. Shinji smiled and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "You're an Eva pilot?"

"Did I forget to mention that?" he asked.

"It's not fair!" Misha pouted. "Everybody always knows everything about you and you never tell me anything."

"Don't worry," Shinji replied peaceably. He jerked his thumb to indicate Misato and Asuka. "They don't know a damn thing about me. They just think they do."

"I know enough," Asuka sniffed.

"The purple one was Unit One, right?" Misha asked. "That means you're the best Eva pilot!"

"Hey!" Asuka protested.

"No," Shinji answered. "Asuka was the best." Asuka gawked at him in surprise. It made no sense to make an enemy so soon, especially one with power. "She's the one who trained her entire life. I was just an amateur."

"But Unit Zero-One destroyed the most Angels, a lot of them without assistance."

"Amateurs can be very dangerous people," Shinji replied sagely.

"So, you're a professional now?" Asuka asked. "And it's good to see that you know the truth."

"Absolutely," Shinji replied.

"A professional what?" Misato asked. Shinji grinned at her. "I don't like that smile. You always do that when you're dodging questions."

"I do believe that is the first complaint I've ever gotten," Shinji commented. "And, I only dodge questions I don't want to answer."

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes.


	3. Chapter 2

I don't own anything.

Company of Wolves

-Chapter Two:

Asuka watched silently as Shinji continued to deal with Misha like an indulgent father. "Not bad, eh?" Asuka spun to glare at the raven-haired woman behind her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" the redhead demanded.

"Nothing," Misato drawled slyly. She turned to watch Shinji herself. "He's changed a lot."

"Yeah," Asuka agreed. "He's just like. . ."

"Yeah," Misato interrupted.

"Do you think the UN sent him to investigate us on purpose?" Asuka asked. "They already sent one mercenary to spy on us."

"There are no coincidences," Misato stated simply. "He was sent here for a reason."

"And what reason was that?" Asuka pressed.

"I have no idea." Shinji dodged another hug and quickly made his way over to where they were standing.

"So, you have two other Eva units at the Geo-Front, now?" he asked.

"Yes," Asuka replied. "Is this part of your investigation?"

"Maybe," Shinji replied. "The upkeep of three units must be insane. No other country has more than one, even the US."

"Due to advancements in detection and deployment, even a single Eva can react to an incident anywhere in the US within ten minutes," Asuka stated.

"But there haven't been any incidents," Shinji commented. He glanced back at Misha's Eva. "They'd make a hell of a weapon for war, wouldn't they?"

"That'd be insane!" Misato exclaimed. "Wars are horrible enough without weapons this advanced."

"It must be tempting though," Shinji commented. "After all, the only countries without Evas are the few who still refuse to join the UN."

"You think the UN is going to launch attacks on non-UN countries using the Evas?" Asuka asked.

"Of course not," Shinji replied with a grin. "The benevolent UN would never do that, would it?" Asuka frowned. Where the hell was this conversation going?

"You work for the UN too, Shinji," she stated.

"I know." Shinji looked at his watch. "We still have a few hours before we reach port." With that he disappeared into the ship. Asuka glanced at Misato and saw that the raven-haired woman looked as confused as she felt.

"Do you have any idea what that was about?"

"No," Misato replied. "Was he saying that he thinks the UN is going to use the Evas to attack the rest of the world, or something?"

"I don't know."

"You two chased him back into the ship!" Misha whined. "Do you know how hard it is to find him? He can disappear the moment you turn your back and turn up hours later right behind you." Misato chuckled as the blond stalked off to her Eva.

"Remind you of anyone?"

"What do you mean?" Asuka asked.

"Nothing," Misato replied slyly.

(:ii:)

Shinji slipped into his cabin and lay back on his bunk. Hiding emotions, especially those as strong as the ones Shinji was currently hiding, was exhausting. After a moment he shifted onto his side and pulled the tiny pistol Kaji had given him out of the holster in the small of his back. Why the man thought he would need, or want, a Walther PPK was beyond Shinji.

It just further cemented Shinji's belief that the older man had an unhealthy fascination with James Bond. At least it was a .380 instead of a .32. Throwing the fucking gun would have hurt someone more than shooting them with a .32.

Despite his flaws, Shinji owed Kaji everything. It had been a little less than ten years ago when the man had found Shinji living in the street, more animal than man. Shinji would never forget it. He remembered what had happened. He remembered even if he hadn't exactly been himself at the time.

(:Almost Ten Years Ago:)

"Shinji Ikari?" He ignored the voice as he continued to dig through the dumpster. The voice had nothing to do with food, with shelter, or any of the few things that truly mattered. "Shinji, I know you can hear me." The speaker was drawing closer. He jerked away from the dumpster. His knife, really nothing more than a broken blade with string wound around the tang for a handle, was already in his hand. This was his area. "Come now, Shinji, you don't need that." Shinji? The name was bothering him. It had something to do with something. The man was tall and well dressed. "Don't tell me you don't remember me, Shinji." It felt like an electrical current had burned through his skull. The person he had forced down in order to survive was suddenly in his head again. He was Shinji!

"Kaji?" His voice was hoarse. He hadn't used it in so long. The man smiled.

"Look at you," Kaji commented. "You've really lost it all, haven't you? You've even lost your humanity; you're almost a stray dog now." Shinji looked down at himself. "Do you remember how you got here?"

"No," Shinji rasped. "I remember Kowaru dying and nobody seemed to care, Kaji."

"That was five years ago," Kaji stated. His face was unreadable. "It's only after we've lost everything, that we're free to do anything. I want you to come with me."

"Where?" Shinji asked.

"The people I work for are looking for a new man," Kaji replied. "Interested?" Shinji looked around, still too shocked by his sudden realization to feel much.

"Okay." Kaji smiled.

"Good." He looked Shinji up and down before wincing slightly. "First you're getting a shower and a hair cut."

"That'd be nice."

(:ii:)

"Shinji!" Shinji jerked upright, the Walther pointed at the door. "Shinji! It's me! Let me in." Shinji took a deep breath and holstered his pistol. He climbed to his feet and opened the door.

"What's up Misha?"

"I wanted to find you," Misha replied. Shinji frowned and grabbed his button down shirt. He pulled it on over his undershirt and quickly buttoned it up. It just wouldn't do to get caught with the young woman alone in his room. There were already rumors spreading through the crew.

"You want to head back up to the deck?" Shinji asked. The wide open space gave him more room to dodge the overly-amorous blond.

"Sure," Misha replied. They started heading for one of the elevators. "Shinji?"

"Yeah?"

"Who are they to you?" Misha asked. Shinji didn't need to ask who she was talking about. He already knew. They reached the elevator and, for once, it was on their floor.

"They're nothing to me," Shinji replied, as they stepped into the car, "just people from the past."

"How do you know them?"

"I lived with them," Shinji replied. He saw Misha's eyes nearly bug out of her skull and had to laugh. "Take it easy. That doesn't mean anything."

"But. . .but. . .but you lived with them!" Misha exclaimed. "How can you tell me that they don't matter?"

"I was having some rough times back then," Shinji stated. "Asuka made them worse and, in the end, Misato had more important things to deal with." The elevator's door slid open and they started walking towards the hatch leading outside.

"What were the Evas like back then?"

"Pretty much the same I suppose," Shinji replied. "Our Evas didn't have the echolocation these units use and the batteries were pretty bad."

"They had eyes?" Misha asked. "How did they see in the dark?" Shinji frowned as he tried to remember any time the Eva's had been used in the dark. He couldn't remember any.

"We fought during the day," he replied with a shrug.

"What was it like being the first pilot to use an Eva in combat?"

"Hard to say," Shinji replied. "I was knocked out within about five minutes."

"How did the Angel get beat?" Misha asked.

"The Eva did it," Shinji replied. He saw Misha's eyes widen. "The Evas are more than anyone every told you."

"I knew they were bio-mechanical, but they're alive?"

"Yeah," Shinji replied. 'They're alive and, from what I've seen, they're pissed." Misha turned and stared at the tarp-draped form of her Eva. "Don't worry. They're asleep for now."

"Misha!" Misha and Shinji turned to see Asuka walking towards them. "What do you say we get out of here?"

"That sounds great!" Mish squealed. "Do you mean it?"

"Misato and I were thinking of heading out," Asuka stated. "We just wanted to see if you wanted to come."

"Definitely," Misha stated. "Just let me pack up." Shinji watched as the blond scrambled back into the ship.

"You know, Red, she's still under my protection until we hit the shore."

"You don't look like much of a bodyguard," Asuka commented. Shinji chuckled at that.

"You don't look like much of a Sub-Commander," he retorted. He turned and made his way towards the bridge. "See you at grandpa's house Red!"

(:ii:)

"I still don't see why Shinji didn't want to come," Misha whined. Asuka pinched the bridge of her nose. She knew what Misato was insinuating and she absolutely refused to believe it. There was no way that Asuka herself had been this bad around Kaji.

"I'm sure he had his reasons," Asuka stated as she led the way through the labyrinthine corridors of NERV.

"I couldn't even find him to change his mind," Misha continued. "When I checked his room it was empty."

"That's odd." Asuka knocked on the Commander's door and waited.

"Come in!" the old man's voice called. Asuka pushed the door open and led Misha into the brightly lit Commander's office. "Welcome back Miss Sohryu."

"Thank you Commander," Asuka replied as she set her report on Kozo Fuyutsuki's desk.

"What took you?" another voice asked. Asuka spun and saw a man leaning against the wall next to the door she had just walked through. "I had enough time to take a shower, shave, and get a haircut."

"Shinji?" He grinned at her.

"Shinji!" Misha cried as she latched onto his hips again. The dark haired man's smirk turned into an exasperated and indulgent smile. He managed to squirm out of Misha's arms and moved to sit on Kozo's desk.

"Maybe you should introduce yourself to your new commanding officer," he suggested.

"Right," Misha replied as she turned to face Kozo. "I'm Misha Romanov. It's nice to meet you."

"Yourself as well, Miss Romanov," Kozo stated. "I was just discussing Mister Ikari's mission with him. You will probably end up seeing quite a bit of him, Miss Sohryu, but for now, I'll see to Miss Romanov's accommodations."

"Can't I stay with you, Shinji?" Misha pleaded, turning her big blue eyes on Shinji.

"No."

"Come on," Misha whined.

"Still no," Shinji replied. "Don't worry. You'll still see me. I'll be around."

"You have to take me out to dinner tonight!" Misha declared.

"Deal," Shinji returned. With that the blond turned and walked out of the office. "She reminds me of someone."

"You don't say," Kozo replied. They both turned and looked at Asuka. She scowled at them.

"I wasn't that bad!" Shinji and Kozo glanced at each other and laughed.

"Please show Mister Ikari to personnel, if you would." Asuka sighed.

"Yes sir. Come on you." Shinji smiled and followed her out of the office. They walked side-by-side in silence for quite some time and Asuka shot covert glances at the man out of the corner of her eye. Now that his hair was shorter and he was clean shaven, it was much easier to spot the traces of the boy she had known.

(:ii:)

Shinji stared strait ahead and pretended not to notice the redhead's glances. "This place hasn't changed much."

"It's underground," Asuka retorted. "Did you expect us to put in a few skylights or knock down some walls?"

"I suppose not. Where did Misato get to?"

"She went to go find Ritsuko," Asuka replied. "Probably to gossip about you." Shinji smiled. That was almost certainly true. Let it never be said that Shinji Ikari couldn't make an entrance, or a hasty exit if the situation called for it. "What are you here for Shinji?"

"Maybe I'm here for you," Shinji replied. Asuka punched him in the shoulder, but it lacked any real force. "My dear Sub-Commander, what a lovely shade of pink you've turned."

"Asshole," Asuka growled. Shinji stopped and Asuka, reluctantly, came to a halt as well. "What's wrong?"

"Why are you angry at me?" The redhead stared at him uncomprehendingly. "You aren't making much of an effort to hide it."

"I have every right to be angry at you!" Asuka snapped. "You disappeared Shinji. How many years have you been gone now?"

"Too many," Shinji allowed. "I let some things linger that I should have taken care of a long time ago."

"Do you know what it was like for me to wake up and find out that you had been gone for three years?" Asuka demanded. "You, Invincible Shinji, on the run again." Shinji didn't point out that she had, in her own way, run further than he had. "I woke up and there was no one!" She was getting louder, more passionate as she spoke. "Kaji was. . .he was gone. Misato didn't even bother coming home any more and you were nowhere to be found! Do you know what that's like?"

"You know I do." Asuka's passion seemed to wither and shrink, leaving her small and frail without it. "I'll always regret running when I should have been helping you."

"I don't need you help!" Asuka snapped, but there was little malice in her words. "You abandoned me Shinji. Just like everyone always has." Shinji carefully reached out and rested his hands on her shoulders. "Don't touch me!" Despite her order, she didn't pull away and he drew her into a hug.

"You don't know how much I hate myself for doing that," he stated. "I want to make things right between us. We're two of a kind and I don't want your hate." Asuka clung to him suddenly and buried her face in his chest.

"You asshole."

"I know." He knew alright. Too bad she had no idea.

(:ii:)

"Shinji Ikari, eh?" Ritsuko Akagi asked as she considered her old friend. "I never thought I'd here that name again."

"Yeah," Misato agreed weakly. Ritsuko frowned. Misato had never been terribly hard to read.

"I'd expect you to be happy," the blond commented.

"I was so terrible to him," the raven-haired woman stated. "Do you know what I told him when he was so sad that he had killed Kaworu?"

"The Seventeenth Angel?"

"His friend," Misato corrected, "his only real friend. I pretty much told him to suck it up. He was so miserable."

"The Angel had to die," Ritsuko stated. She had no idea where this was going. "Surely, Shinji understands that. If the Seventeenth had been allowed to carry on his merry way, the world would have ended."

"I know," Misato replied, "I know that, but I couldn't help him. He was so miserable that I couldn't stand it. I even tried to get him to start drinking." Ritsuko straightened slightly at that admission, but she said nothing. "In the end, I couldn't take it anymore. I just went to NERV and started calling to tell him that I wouldn't be home. When he first left, I was actually relieved."

"I see," Ritsuko replied. "So, you feel guilty?"

"Of course I do!" Misato snapped.

"Why don't you talk to him about it?" Ritsuko asked. "He was a good man, even at that age. I'm sure he'd understand."

"He's changed," Misato stated. "You'll understand when you see him. He's the same as Kaji. He has those eyes."

"I see." Ritsuko frowned as she recalled her friend's insistence that her former boyfriend had changed when he had reappeared with Asuka. Though she loathed acknowledging it, the blond had to admit that there had been something eerie about the man's eyes, something that hadn't, or perhaps had, been there when they were in college.

"It's like he isn't human anymore. Those are an animal's eyes."

"Life changes us all," Ritsuko stated, carefully thinking of each word she said. "I can't imagine that it was easy for a boy his age to be alone in the world. Maybe you should talk to him about it."

"Maybe I should."

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. I've got a secret and when it comes out some of you are going to have to find something new to bitch at me about. Heh.


	4. Chapter 3

I don't own anything.

Company of Wolves

-Chapter Three:

Asuka watched silently as Shinji cheerfully flirted with the woman trying to take down his information for his NERV access card. The poor girl was becoming rather flustered. "And where are you currently living, sir?"

"I haven't found a place yet," Shinji replied. "You wouldn't need a roommate, would you?"

"I have a one bedroom apartment, sir," the girl squeaked.

"Even better," Shinji purred. The girl turned an even brighter shade of red and Asuka's eye twitched.

"Cut that out!"

"What?" Shinji asked innocently. Asuka scowled at him and the proceedings progressed much quicker after that. "You're cute when you scowl." Now Asuka felt her own cheeks burn.

"Stop it."

"What?" Shinji asked again, just as innocently as the first time. Asuka groaned and led him out of the personnel office. She spotted another woman coming towards them and frowned. Just what she needed, another mercenary sent to spy on her. The other woman spotted her and smiled forcedly as she drew closer.

"Hello, Sohryu."

"Kirishima," Asuka replied curtly. "This is Shinji Ikari. He's an UN investigator from Lupo Cattivo." Mana turned to Shinji and froze. Asuka watched in shock as the two mercenaries stared at each other for a moment with unreadable expressions. "Do you two know each other?" Shinji's face lit up with his bright grin.

"Nope!" he announced as he stuck out his hand. "Kirishima, was it?"

"Mana Kirishima," Mana announced as she took Shinji's hand. "It's nice to meet you, even if you're nothing but a dog."

"Jäger Industries, right?" Shinji asked, his eyes narrowing. "A Huntsman?"

"Of course."

"Mana is a mercenary, just like you," Asuka stated, more for something to say. The way the two stared at each other was unnerving.

"I know her company," Shinji replied. Asuka punched the call button on elevator and the doors slid open. To her surprise, Mana followed them in. The PA system buzzed suddenly.

"Sub-Commander Sohryu to the Commander's office. Sub-Commander Sohryu to the Commander's office."

"God damn it," Asuka growled as she stopped the doors from closing.

"Go ahead," Shinji stated. "I can find my own way." Asuka glanced at him for a moment before shrugging.

"Fine." She stepped out of the elevator and watched Shinji wave as the doors close. She had a bad feeling about those two.

(:ii:)

Shinji watched as the doors slid shut and glanced at the red-haired woman beside him out of the corner of his eye. He slowly reached out and punched the elevator's emergency stop button. Before his hand even returned to his side, Mana was in his arms with her lips pressed to his. She pulled back gasping for air. "I thought you were dead!"

"I thought you were," Shinji replied as he nibbled the woman's throat.

"I knew you weren't a reporter." Shinji didn't like her smug tone and nipped her earlobe, drawing a delighted squeal from her.

"And I knew you weren't an accountant on vacation."

(:ii:)

"So, you think Shinji knows Kirishima?" Misato asked as she followed her former charge through NERV's halls.

"You should have seen them," Asuka stated. "They definitely know each other."

"Well, they are both mercenaries," Misato commented. "Although, Kirishima works for Jäger Industries not Lupo Cattivo, Limited. Maybe they've run into each other on a job or something."

"I suppose." Asuka stopped in front of an elevator and punched the call button. After a moment the doors slid open and Misato frowned as the objects of their conversation stepped out of the elevator.

"Fancy running into you two," Shinji commented with his smile. Misato bit back a shudder. His eyes were still so cold as they bored into her.

"Yeah," Mana replied. She glanced at her watch. "Well, it was nice meeting you Shinji, but I have something to do."

"I as well," Shinji replied as he took her hand and kissed it. Mana giggled and the two went their separate ways. Misato decided not to mention the fresh looking hickey that the normally prim and proper female mercenary's partially unbuttoned blouse showed. Instead, the purple haired colonel followed Asuka into the elevator and punched the button.

"You're right."

"I know," Asuka stated. Misato frowned as a familiar smell assaulted her nose. "What is that smell?" the redhead demanded. Misato felt her cheeks burn as she placed the unusual scent. Asuka stared at her for a moment before turning bright red herself. "Ew!" She began frantically punching buttons on the control panel. "Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Damn you Shinji Ikari!"

"Never would have thought the little bastard had the balls to do it in an elevator," Misato commented.

(:ii:)

Shinji frowned as he felt his ears burning. "Odd."

"Shinji!" He stumbled as something slammed into his back and wrapped its arms around his waist.

"Hello Misha. Did you get your housing arrangements settled?"

"Yup!" the blond stated as Shinji pried her arms off of his waist and turned to face her. "You want to see them?"

"That's. . .no." Misha pouted.

"You're still taking me out to dinner, right?"

"Of course," Shinji replied. "Have they told you when you're starting school?" Misha scowled.

"I don't want to go to school!" she whined as she grabbed his arm and began dragging him along. "I can barely read that chicken scratch they call writing. It was bad enough when you made me switch to Japanese back on the ship." Shinji chose not to point out that the blond was talking about his native handwriting and language. Most people had trouble pegging him for Japanese these days.

"School is an important and necessary part of becoming an adult," Shinji stated.

"Bah!" Misha growled. "Once you've learned to read, do math, and write they can't teach you anything, but what they think is important and that never turns out to be what you really need to know." Shinji was mildly surprised by her rather mature sounding position. He would have been more surprised if she hadn't been using it to try and weasel her way out of school.

"That's certainly true, but employers trust people with college degrees more than anyone else," Shinji stated. Misha snorted.

"That's just stupid," she grumbled. "I'd take experience over education any day."

"Well, you're smarter than most," Shinji stated. "Now where are we going?"

"The cafeteria!" Misha announced. Shinji had to laugh.

"One day your metabolism is going to slow down and you're going to blow up like a balloon."

"No way!" Misha shot back. "I'm going to keep my perfect figure forever. Besides, who are you to talk? You eat more than I do!"

"I'm bigger than you," Shinji countered. These little arguments were always amusing largely because Misha didn't believe in sugar coating anything and was more than happy to draw attention to other people's flaws to prove her point.

"You eat a lot for someone your size," Misha returned.

"I have a high stress occupation," Shinji replied. "In the right jobs you can eat as much as you want and never gain weight."

"You mean being a mercenary?" Misha asked.

"I'm not a mercenary. I'm a contractor. Mercenaries will work for anyone. . ."

". . .and you're very selective," Misha finished. "You've told me this a hundred times."

"And yet you still call me a mercenary."

"That's it!" Misha announced. "I'm going to be a merc. . .er. . .contractor!" She stared at him expectantly for several minutes. "Well?"

"Well what?" Shinji asked.

"What do you think of that?" Misha asked.

"It's a career option I suppose," Shinji stated. "Although, you're going to have a tough time against all the other Russian contractors out there. Those guys are all Spetsnaz."

"I'm just as tough as them!" Misha declared. "And I'm prettier."

"Couldn't get much uglier than those guys," Shinji commented, remembering the numerous Spetsnaz personnel he had worked with in the past. They were strong and inhumanly tough, but pretty would never be a word Shinji would used to describe any of them. "Just remember young Kaspar, take heed. For if thou presumeth to flirt with spirits, though shalt join them."

"You're quoting something, aren't you?" Misha asked. "You always quote the most obscure things."

"Study hard and you might learn some of them," Shinji replied.

"I get the feeling that I'll never learn about that one in a Japanese literature class," Misha commented.

"Certainly not."

(:ii:)

Kaji frowned and shuffled around in his bed until he was staring at the clock on his bedside table. It was two in the morning. He picked up his cell phone. Who in the hell was calling him at two in the morning. "Hello?"

"Hey Kaji."

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" Kaji demanded.

"Oh, right. Time differences," Shinji stated. "Sorry. I forgot."

"The hell you did!" Kaji snarled. He hadn't been able to sleep in days and now he was putting up with this? "I'm hanging up now."

"I need advice." Kaji hesitated. Shinji only ever asked for advice when he truly needed it.

"Shoot."

"Do you remember that mission a few years back in France?" Kaji thought back. He did indeed remember that mission. Shinji had been sent to take care of someone, unfortunately a radical band of religious extremists attacked the resort community for being immoral. That particular mission had been the starting point for the running joke that war following Shinji like a pet dog. After it had happened a few more times, the joke had ceased being funny.

"I remember it," Kaji replied. He also remembered had Shinji had, in his own way, moped for months. "There was a woman, wasn't there?" He hadn't asked and Shinji hadn't told. It was just the way guys dealt with those things between friends.

"Yeah," Shinji replied. "She told me she was on vacation. I know it's crazy, but I would have left the company and the business to spend the rest of my life with her at that time."

"It's not crazy," Kaji replied, rolling onto his back. "We all run into that once or twice eventually. It's just a combination of the right person at the right time. She died, didn't she?"

"I thought she did," Shinji replied. Kaji's half awake mind caught that about a minute after Shinji had said it.

"She's alive?"

"She's a Huntsman." Kaji shot strait up in bed.

"Jäger Industries?" he demanded.

"Yeah." Kaji sighed and lay back down.

"Way to go Romeo, just remember that always happens to Romeo and Juliet in the end."

"Yeah," Shinji agreed. Kaji sensed a change of topic was necessary.

"So, have any fun yet?"

"Of course," Shinji replied. Kaji grinned. He had taught his protégé well.

"Did you get her name?"

"Well. . .heh. . .you see. . ." Kaji closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand.

"Please tell me you didn't sleep with the Jäger chick."

"Of course I didn't sleep with an agent of our company's mortal enemies!" Shinji exclaimed.

"Shinji?"

"Yes?"

"Women are cruel, petty, treacherous and amoral," Kaji stated. "That's normal women, not mercenaries. I know this is unusual for me, but that woman is just too much trouble. Stay away from her and if you can't, at least don't stick it in her, okay?"

"Right."

"I mean it."

"I know." The phone went dead. Kaji sighed. It was too early for this.

(:ii:)

Shinji tucked his phone back into his pocket. The world could be a small and, oftentimes, cruel place. To think he would find her again, in this manner. The elevator slowed and Shinji scowled as he noted that he was nowhere near his floor. He didn't want company at the moment. The door slid open and Shinji found himself staring at his crimson-haired former roommate. "Hey Asuka!"

"You!" Asuka shrieked. Years of battlefield experience did Shinji no good as he was tackled to the floor and strangled by NERV's Sub-Commander. The doors slid shut as she began screaming. "You little bastard!"

"What did I do?" Shinji managed through his constricted windpipe. This was amusing and she really was cute when she scowled, but any longer without air and he might have to do something drastic and painful to the lovely young woman. The elevator's chime went off and they both turned to see Misato and a blond-haired woman who could only have been Doctor Ritsuko Akagi. "Uh. . .hey Doc," Shinji stated cheerfully. She gawked down at him and slowly raised one hand to pinch the bridge of her nose in exasperation.

"He really is just like him," she groused. Asuka frowned and looked down at where she was straddling Shinji's hips. She almost blurred as she shot to her feet.

"This isn't what it looks like!" the redhead declared as Shinji climbed to his feet.

"Oh really?" Misato asked slyly. She turned to Shinji. "Quite the exhibitionist, aren't you? Twice in one day and both in elevators." Shinji frowned in surprise. How the hell did she know about Mana?

"I'm serious!" Asuka declared. Shinji noted that the door was beginning to close and casually draped his arms over the fuming redhead's shoulders, drawing her back to his chest.

"She's right," he commented as he hook his chin over the redhead's shoulder and felt her freeze at the unexpected contact. "This is absolutely not what it looks like." The shocked looks on the older women's faces before the door slid shut was well worth the elbow he took to the ribs when Asuka realized what was going on.

"You asshole!"

"I know," Shinji replied smugly. This job was turning out to be very entertaining. That was never a good sign. It always preceded one hell of a mess.

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. Please note, this really is a serious story, I'm just using comedic elements because I think funny stuff always makes something more interesting.

Also, I will personally track down and beat severely around the head area with this dead badger that I'm carrying for perfectly legitimate reasons, the first person who says that I stole that like from Hellsing. I did not. I stole it from the work that Hellsing stole it from and twice stolen is legally recovered. If you don't know what line, don't worry about it. I swear to god some people are just idiots. I was watching a trailer for Southland Tales and Youtube and they quoted Frost's Hollow Men, you know, this is the way the world ends? Some stupid little fucker said that they had ripped that line off from the Halo commercial. Holy fucking shit. Americans just have no pride in their literary history and that's a shame. Some of that stuff is decent, not great, but decent.


	5. Chapter 4

I don't own anything.

Company of Wolves

-Chapter Four:

Shinji stared at his watch. It was way too early in the morning, but that was fine. His target was an early riser. Shinji slipped into NERV's research lab as quietly as he could and stalked towards his prey. "I know you're there."

"You're good," Shinji commented as he slipped behind the blond and wrapped his arms around her. "I knew you were."

"Hm," Ritsuko replied as she kept right on working on what she was doing. "You know, I'm almost old enough to be your mother."

"You don't look it," Shinji commented as he pressed his cheek against the blonde's. "I don't think anyone would even bat an eye if we were out at a nice restaurant together."

"They might," Ritsuko commented. Shinji turned to look where she was pointing. Asuka and Misha were standing on the other side of the window looking into the lab. They both looked furious.

"I do suppose they might," he commented as he up-wrapped one arm to wave at them. "So, about dinner. . ." Ritsuko finally turned to face him.

"What are you up to Shinji?" Shinji smiled for her. "Misato was right." Shinji raised an eyebrow.

"Do tell."

"You've got an animal's eyes," Ritsuko replied as she turned back to her work. Shinji frowned. This was proving annoying.

"I bet you like a little animal in your men."

"You're smooth Shinji, I'll give you that," Ritsuko stated, "but no. I don't know anything."

"Who said anything about knowing anything?" Shinji asked. "I thought we could just get reacquainted."

"Sure."

"Shinji! That's disgusting, she's old enough to be your mother!" Shinji smirked as he felt Ritsuko twitch at Asuka's comment. "Besides, she's a crazy cat lady." Ritsuko spun around, casting Shinji aside furiously.

"You little bitch!" Shinji decided that now would be a good time to make his escape. He tried to slink out of the lab, but someone grabbed his collar. "I'll have you know, Shinji and I were just discussing our dinner plans tonight."

"What?" Asuka shrieked.

"Please don't drag me into this," Shinji whimpered. He had been on the receiving end of many an angry female and he had never liked it, nope, not once.

"Well, he's taking me out tomorrow!" Asuka countered. "I'll bet he has a lot more fun with me!"

"We'll see," Ritsuko countered. "Now if you'll excuse us, we were trying to talk." Asuka fumed and stormed out of the lab. Shinji smirked. Kaji was going to have kittens when he heard about this one. 'Score!' Shinji cheered. 'And the apprentice becomes the new master!'

(:ii:)

Shinji ducked out of Ritsuko's lab as quietly as he could. "You're really taking her out?" Shinji froze and sighed before turning to smile at Misha.

"She's an old friend."

"Yeah," the blond drawled. "You two looked really friendly in there."

"I'm just an affectionate guy," Shinji replied. Ritsuko stormed out of the lab suddenly.

"We have a synch test to perform."

"This early?" Misha protested, but followed the doctor anyway. Shinji had to laugh. Better her than him. He hated synch tests and was capable of much more violence when annoyed. "I'd like the test you too Shinji," the taller blond called back.

"Over my dead body," Shinji returned cheerfully as he made his way in the exact opposite direction. He noticed the footsteps shadowing his immediately. "You need something?"

"Do you know who you're really working for, Shinji?" Shinji turned and stared at Mana. This wasn't exactly the conversation he had been planning on.

"Do I really know who I'm working for?" Shinji repeated. "Let's say that I have no idea. What do you think I should know?"

"Lupo Cattivo is a terrorist organization," Mana stated. Shinji had to laugh. "It's not funny. It's the truth! My company has seen numerous Lupo Cattivo employees cooperating and aiding anti-UN forces!"

"If, and I do mean 'if', what you're saying is true, don't you think I would know that?" Shinji asked. "I've worked for my company for a few years shy of a decade." Mana stared at him in shock.

"You're one of them," she whispered.

"I seem to recall Jäger Industries never managing to provide proof of their claims," Shinji continued.

"We have pictures!"

"A blurry Caucasian man running around in robes, there are pictures of Bigfoot that are more conclusive than those photos," Shinji replied. Mana stared at him, one hand slowly moving towards the pistol holstered on her belt. "I wouldn't even think of going for that gun if I were you." Mana's hand froze. "Face it Kirishima, you people haven't proven a damn thing. If anything, you've just hurt your own credibility."

"You bastards," Mana hissed. "All the good people you've killed. . ."

"All the good people we've killed?" Shinji interrupted. "You don't know a damned thing."

"Oh good." They both turned to see Asuka walking towards them. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No," Shinji replied, cheerful and smiling again, "just a little conversation about inter-company relations."

"Okay," Asuka replied slowly, glancing between the two of them. "Commander Fuyutsuki wanted to make sure that you both were warned of the new threat."

"Which one?"

"Religious fanatics," Asuka stated flatly. Both Shinji and Mana sighed in exasperation. "I take it you have some experience in this?"

"You have no idea," they replied in synch.

"This is just great," Mana added, "as if I didn't have my hands full with the terrorists already here."

"Don't go trying to influence the Sub-Commander's thoughts with your suspicious," Shinji counted.

"Okay," Asuka drawled slowly. "NERV Germany was just attacked in what we think was an attempt to get at Misha. With three active Eva pilots and a few retired ones here, they'll be heading our way next."

"We'll be fine," Shinji replied.

"I'm sure you'll be fine," Mana growled.

"I don't work with religious fanatics on principle," Shinji stated.

"As if you've got principles." Asuka sighed and walked away as the two began arguing. At least she wouldn't have to worry about strange smells in the elevators anymore.

(:ii:)

Shinji stepped out of the Geo-Front and into the heat of a beautiful Tokyo-3 summer day. It was almost blindingly bright after being cooped up inside for so long. "Hey pal, can I burrow a couple of bucks? I need to buy some drinks."

"I'd suggest Red Nikka," Shinji replied. The man nodded and looked around before walking into a nearby alley. Shinji looked around as well and followed after him. "I take it you're Barton?"

"And you're Ikari," the man countered. "Our mutual friend asked me to pass along a few new priorities."

"Such as?" Shinji asked.

"In addition to playing along with the UN's investigation, try to find out what's so important about NERV," the man stated. "The UN is funneling billions of dollars to these assholes even though those of us in the know know that there aren't any more angels."

"Great. Double agent time, huh?"

"If you're good you won't need to be," the man stated. "And watch your back, word is that a bunch of religious nutters are on the trail of your little girlfriend and I doubt their intentions are praise-worthy."

"I've heard," Shinji replied. "Our friend didn't suggest anywhere interesting to start, did he?"

"He said that you'd figure it out," the man replied. Shinji chuckled.

"Could you pass a message for me?"

"Sure."

"Tell him that his hard target, the blond, is in the bag," Shinji stated. "He'll get it."

"If you say so." Shinji considered that.

"You know what? Never mind." Some things were best told first hand. With that the man turned and walked away. Shinji walked out of the alley and looked at his watch. Where to start? The Geo-Front's computer system was the obvious place, but that was no fun.

(:ii:)

Misato stared at her computer and frowned. She did not like what her search on Shinji was turning up. He was an employee of Lupo Cattivo Limited, a private military company that largely provided military advisory assistance on the UN's behalf. He had spent time in South America, the Middle East, and Africa. That was all relatively normal.

What she didn't like was the company's record. Officially there was nothing wrong, but unofficially there had been dozens of investigations into Lupo Cattivo's finances and business ethics. Most of the investigations had been started by another private military company. Interestingly enough, the other company was Jäger Industries, Mana's company.

Nothing had ever been substantiated and Lupo Cattivo had even managed to sue the other company for defamation. Misato just couldn't bring herself to believe that Jäger Industries was simply slandering the competition. Their claims just seemed far too elaborate.

"Reading something interesting?" Misato jumped and slammed her laptop shut.

"Damn it, Shinji!" The man chuckled at her reaction.

"So sorry, did I surprise you?" Misato glared at him. "We haven't gotten a chance to talk, have we?"

"Between you flirting with most of the female staff and sleeping with someone who's supposed to be your enemy? No, I don't think we have," Misato stated. One of Shinji's eyebrows arched.

"Supposed to be my enemy?" he repeated. "How did you know that Mana was my enemy?" Misato's eyes widened.

"You're from competing companies, aren't you?" she asked weakly. She had never been good at lying. Shinji turned her laptop towards him and flipped it open.

"Just examining me and Mana's companies, right?" he asked as he read the screen. "You just wanted to make sure that we're both legit, right?"

"Yeah," Misato replied slowly.

"Good," Shinji replied, "because we both know that peoples' pasts can be dangerous." Misato frowned. That sounded like a threat. Shinji turned her laptop back around and sat on the edge of her desk. "I was wondering if you could answer a few questions for me."

"Like what?"

"What, exactly, does NERV do?" Shinji asked.

"We maintain the Evangelions in preparation for further combat with the beings known as Angels," Misato replied.

"There aren't anymore Angels," Shinji pointed out.

"There is no way of knowing that," Misato countered. Shinji decided not to tell her she was wrong. Sadly, it looked like she didn't know much. A shame really, he had looked forward to putting some effort into this.

"When I left, you were investigating NERV," he stated. "What did you find?"

"Commander Ikari was attempting to set off another impact," Misato stated. "I also found evidence that he had something to do with the Second Impact. My findings are what led to his dismissal and subsequent execution."

"That's all you found?" Shinji asked. "You just stopped?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Misato asked. "Where else would I have gone? Gendo Ikari was the commander." Shinji shrugged and grinned.

"It's nothing." He stood up and Misato frowned. It was like he expected her to know more. "If you'll excuse me, I have a date to get ready for."

(:ii:)

Kaji frowned as his phone continued to buzz. "Hello?"

"Hey Kaji."

"Shinji," Kaji returned. "Did you find out anything interesting, or are you calling about something else?"

"Both actually," Shinji replied. "Did you know why Gendo Ikari was executed?"

"Crimes against humanity," Kaji stated.

"He was planning another impact," Shinji stated. Kaji's chest constricted. Another impact? Who in their right mind would try something like that?

"Do you think They're involved?" Shinji asked.

"We know that They pretty much own NERV," Kaji replied. "I never found evidence that they were up to something like that. Why bother trying to conquer the Earth if you're just going to destroy it?"

"Who knows," Shinji replied. "If we find out that They're still trying to do that through NERV, I'm going to kill everyone here and destroy all their equipment, okay?"

"I'd definitely encourage that," Kaji stated. "Oh, and did you hear that there's a bunch of religious fanatics out to get Misha? I sent a man to warn you."

"I met him," Shinji replied.

"The Ikari Charm strikes again, eh?" Kaji asked. "Honestly, can't you go anywhere without turning the area into a war zone?"

"This isn't my fault!" Shinji protested. "Neither were the last couple."

"Uganda." There was a lengthy pause.

"That's not fair. I was supposed to start a war there." Kaji chuckled. "Oh, and by the way, I managed to score a date off of Doc Akagi." Kaji nearly dropped his phone. Shinji had scored a date off of that cold fish? Kaji himself had never managed to get beyond a few semi-prearranged bar meets.

"But. . .but. . .but. . .how?"

"You taught me well," Shinji stated. "And now I'm the best."

"But. . ." The line went dead and Kaji stared at his phone. "Damn it Ikari! That's not fair!"

"Shut up Kaji," Janet mumbled as she rolled over and snuggled into his shoulder.

"Sorry," Kaji replied as he dropped his phone on the bedside table. His boss mumbled something unintelligible and began to snore lightly.

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. Lots to say folks. I've got a probable date for my training this summer. Looks like early May. You'll be without me for six weeks. It's kind of a bummer, I was hoping to be around here and do something special for my X-year anniversary writing fanfiction of . That's in May.

Also my birthday is coming up in a few days, wee. I'll just say early twenties, that's right regular old Grampy Grumpy Cynical here. Bet that's younger than you thought. I actually had a woman think I was in my mid thirties. That was kind of funny. It'd be nice if everyone believed that. I'd finally stop getting carded for my smokes. I wonder what I'll be like in my thirties. Probably just a pissed off almost-middle-aged man rather than a pissed off young man. I really don't have any plans on living past sixty or so. Once I can't wipe my own ass, it's probably time to have me put down. Well, that and my smoking, drinking, driving, and general life habits probably won't let me live that long, but really, who wants to be old?

I'd much rather die young with a smile and my dignity than die old in a diaper and no idea where the hell I am.


	6. Chapter 5

I don't own anything.

Company of Wolves

-Chapter Five:

"Hello Doctor." Shinji smiled as he sat down at the blonde's table.

"Shinji," Ritsuko returned flatly. "I've already told you, I don't know anything about what's happening at NERV."

"What do you think I'd want to know?" Shinji asked.

"If NERV is doing anything they shouldn't be doing," Ritsuko stated.

"Are they?"

"I already told you, I don't know," Ritsuko ground out. She inspected him with cold, calculating eyes for a long moment. "So, I'm not foolish enough to believe that you just ended up this way. He's still alive, isn't he?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Shinji replied cheerfully. Ritsuko studied his face and he smiled brightly.

"Well, that answers my question better than words could ever have," she stated. Shinji chuckled and ordered a beer.

"Do you know what you want to eat?"

"Yes." Shinji studied his menu absently. "So, need I ask how you managed to go from reluctant soldier to an amoral soldier for hire?"

"What makes you say I'm amoral?" Shinji asked. Ritsuko just stared at him flatly over the rims of her glasses. "Okay, so I might be mildly amoral, but I really do have mankind's best intentions at heart."

"You wouldn't be the first to claim that as you led the world into hell," Ritsuko returned.

"True."

"And just what are you trying to accomplish?" Shinji just smiled. "You're as bad as your father ever was." She was trying to get a rise out of him. That was fine. Shinji knew exactly how to get a rise out of her.

"Does that mean you're going to bend yourself over a desk for me too?" Ritsuko's jaw dropped. "No accounting for taste I suppose. To each their own and all that."

"You. . .how. . .how did you. . ." she sputtered. Shinji just shrugged. "I may have underestimated you."

"Now that we both know that I know quite a bit about everything that's been happening, let's talk." Ritsuko stared at him coldly.

"Once Commander Ikari died, I stopped any illicit activities I may have been doing."

"And what might you have been doing?" Shinji pressed.

"I can't tell you, it would put both of us in danger," Ritsuko stated. Shinji frowned.

"SEELE." Ritsuko's head jerked upright and she stared at him.

"How do you know that name?"

"Well, that answers that," Shinji stated calmly. He knew they had been involved; hell, they had been the ones that hired Kaji. Too bad they hadn't known the pony-tailed spy's true agenda. They probably would have killed him off long before Commander Ikari had tried to. "What were they trying to achieve, Ritsuko?" The blond looked around the restaurant and leaned forward.

"We can't talk about this here. They'll find out." She stared at him for a moment. "Did they send you?" Shinji smiled again.

"That is a possibility, isn't it?" The waitress arrived with Shinji's beer and took their orders. It took some goading for Ritsuko to tear her eyes away from Shinji long enough to order. The waitress took their orders and sashayed away, throwing a glance back at Shinji.

"Did they send you to kill me?" Ritsuko whispered suddenly.

"Would you be surprised if they did?" Shinji asked. Ritsuko shook her head. "Why would they want you dead if you aren't playing for them anymore?"

"I know too much." Shinji's smile widened. That was exactly what he wanted to hear.

(:ii:)

Kaji frowned as his phone buzzed to life. He grabbed it and sighed as he saw the name on it. There was no doubt that Shinji was calling to brag about his conquest. Kaji flipped his phone open. "I don't want to hear about it."

"You don't want to hear why I think I'm going to kill Akagi?" Kaji frowned at that.

"Well Jesus, Shinji. I remember back in college that she wasn't great and she was a little cold, but that's no reason to kill her." Shinji laughed uproariously at that. "What?"

"You think I'd touch her after finding out that my father was hitting that?" Kaji had to think about that one. Apparently, he thought too long. "The answer is no Kaji."

"It's hard to tell with you," Kaji returned. "You get yourself into some really odd situations."

"Shut up." Kaji chuckled.

"So, why are you thinking about killing Ritsuko?"

"We both know she was involved with SEELE," Shinji stated. "She says she isn't anymore, but that she knows enough that SEELE would want her dead."

"So you're going to find out what she knows by any means necessary and possibly kill her?" Kaji asked.

"That's the plan," Shinji stated. "Though, I'd change the possibly to certainly. If SEELE catches up with her and they find out that she told me, suddenly I'm in danger and this whole job goes down the drain."

"I see," Kaji stated. Despite all of his own investigating all those years before, he never had found out what SEELE's plans really were. "Why are you telling me this?"

"No reason really." Kaji understood. Shinji was asking permission.

"Just do what needs to be done," he ordered.

"Got it," Shinji replied.

"Except starting a war. Janet really wants to avoid that this time." Kaji hung up before he could have his ear burned off by his protégé's incredible grasp of international swearing.

(:ii:)

Shinji flipped his phone shut and fought his urge to throw the damn thing. He was not going to start a war damn it! Well, at least, he'd try not to. With that he decided he set about deciding what to do now. He knew where Ritsuko lived. He knew she wasn't under any official Section-2 security. Of course, she knew that too and she didn't seem quite ready to die. Surprising her on her turf might be a very bad idea. "Mister Ikari?" Shinji turned and stared at the man who had called his name.

"Maybe." The man's hand shot into his coat, but he had made one fatal error. He had gotten too close. Shinji was all over him before the stranger could even completely draw his weapon. Shinji head butted the man and easily snatched the pistol from his slackened grip before using it to pistol whip him. The man stumbled and went down hard. "Now who the hell are you supposed to be?"

"I'll never talk!" the man declared, his voice distorted by his broken nose. Shinji looked down at the pistol in his hand. It was a fairly expensive, American-made match-grade .22 with an integral suppressor. A quick glance around showed that there was no one around. Shinji aimed the pistol at the man's leg and pulled the trigger. The weapon kicked and its muffled pop was easily drowned out by the man's wail.

"Feeling talkative yet?"

"You. . .you shot me!" Shinji shot him in the other leg.

"Do I have to switch to a bigger weapon?"

"I'm part of the Brotherhood!" Shinji frowned.

"Be more specific," he ordered. "There are a lot of Brotherhoods and I'm pretty sure I've pissed off a few of them."

"We're the Brotherhood of Saint Michael!"

"Great. Religious fanatics. I am so sick of you people. Are you the ones after Misha?"

"We seek retribution from all those who have killed the divine messengers!"

"Right. I meant, are you the guys who attacked NERV Germany trying to find her?"

"Yes!" Shinji, all the questions he could think of answered, shot the man in the face and then shot him a few more times just to be safe before he pulled out his cell phone. Asuka picked up on the third ring.

"Hello?"

"It's me," Shinji stated.

"What do you want?" the irate redhead snapped. "It's one in the morning!"

"Did I wake you?"

"Well, no, but it's the principle of the thing!" Asuka declared. "Now what do you want?"

"I just ran into some guy who says he's from the Brotherhood of Saint Michael," Shinji stated.

"Are you alright?" Asuka demanded. "They're the guys who have been targeting Eva pilots."

"So he was telling the truth," Shinji murmured.

"What?"

"Nothing," Shinji replied. "Anyway, he's dead. I shot him. . .a couple of times. . .in self defense."

"You. . .you. . .you killed him?"

"Yeah," Shinji answered. "Anyway, what's the number for Section-2? I figured they'd want to examine this guy or something."

"I'll send them right to you." Shinji relayed his location and stuffed his phone back in his pocket.

"Well," he stated aloud, "all things considered, this isn't exactly as bad as normal." It was, after all, several hundred deaths short of a war.

You'd think he'd know better than to challenged the Gods like that, wouldn't you?

(:ii:)

"Shinji!"

"Ack!" Shinji managed to regain his balance as he was tackled from behind. "Misha?"

"I was so worried when I heard you were attacked!" the blond wailed. Shinji sighed and glanced at the Section-2 agent who had been questioning him.

"Are we done here?"

"Let me check," the agent stated. "You were confronted by the dead man. He was using a pistol that we can't find and you didn't see what happened to. You than drew your pistol and shot him five times. Your first two shot went wild and struck him in each leg. Afterwards you shot him in the head three times because 'you just can't trust a .22'. Is that everything?"

"Sounds about right," Shinji replied cheerfully. The agent stared at him for several seconds and then down at his report and then back at Shinji.

"Whatever," he stated finally. "Carry on your business Mister Ikari."

"Alright," Shinji replied as he managed to disengage himself from Misha. "Why aren't you in school?"

"NERV brought me back to the Geo-Front when you were attacked," Misha explained.

"I see," Shinji replied. "Are you living here now?"

"For the moment," Misha stated. "Want to see my room?"

"No."

"Shinji!" Shinji looked up and saw Asuka walking quickly towards him. "Are you okay?"

"Of course," Shinji stated. "You should take care, Red. The world's a little bit more dangerous for us than it was a couple of days ago."

"They're after us?" Asuka asked in shock. "I thought they only wanted the current Eva pilots."

"This guy knew me by site and I've been off the radar for a long time," Shinji stated. "Somebody important somewhere is leaking. I suggest you find them before I do, or things will get messy."

(:ii:)

Asuka watched as Shinji walked away. "He's so cool," Misha stated.

"Yeah," Asuka mumbled absently. Misato had told her that Shinji was not who he used to be. Asuka had blown it off at the time. Maybe, she had thought, just maybe, Shinji had finally grown up. That wasn't a grown up Shinji. That was a completely different person.

"Are you okay?" Misha asked.

"I'm fine," Asuka stated. "He's right. Somebody is working for the other side and I think it might just be someone here."

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. Few more weeks folks. I really need to get back into shape. Alright I've got a few funny stories and a new bitch session this week. Some of you are probably surprised by that after last week's drew so much flack. All I've got to say is; meh. I'm over it. That's my thoughts on things over there. Although it amuses me that some many DLP brats showed up here, people who I've never received reviews from before. Does that mean if I go to DLP, I will find a 'flame Mister C.' thread? The thought pleases me, yes.

Now, funny stories! First, I gave up smoking for two weeks to win a bet with my friend. My friend is one of those really annoying ex-smokers. Ex-smokers are like born again Christians. They see no problem in telling you how wrong you are and right they are. So, after I won the bet, I took him to the drug store and used his money to buy lots of smokes.

Second funny story. My other friend bought me a pipe for my birthday. I used to smoke a pipe, but it broke and I never got around to getting a new one. Now I'm smoking a pipe again.

Third funny story. I'm growing a mustache. Laugh now.

Now for my bitch fest. People are getting stupider, it's really true. Now, back in the day, people were just as violent and greedy as today. Not their fault, its human nature. At risk of sounding like an emo teenager from a perfectly happy middle class family, humans are nothing but animals. They can think, but hell, they're still just animals with animal instincts. Now back in the day, people were just as bad, yet everyone seems to think the olden days were so much better.

Why is this? It's because dumb asses today really are stupid. In the olden days, people tried to avoid leaving evidence, now a days they video tape themselves and post it on the internet. That's happened more times than I can count. Then there were those two bimbos who robbed a back wearing dark sunglasses. Sunglasses? Hope they get prison raped. Cops aren't the number one catchers or criminals. Stupidity is. Don't let CSI fool you, with sufficient planning, you can get away with a lot of bad shit if you have a solid brain between your ears. That's why smart criminals do white collar crime.

Not that I'm encouraging anyone of course. That'd be irresponsible of me.


	7. Chapter 6

I don't own anything.

Company of Wolves

-Chapter Six:

Shinji pushed the door to his small room open and stepped inside. It was only his second time in the room since he had first arrived and the first time he had stepped in with any intent to sleep. He would need a real apartment soon, but for now the NERV officer dorm room would do. "Shinji?" he sighed and quickly woke himself up.

"Yes?" He turned and found Mana standing in his open doorway.

"I heard you had a run in with some small-time triggerman," the redhead stated.

"Yeah," Shinji replied. "Disappointed he didn't get me?" For a moment there was pain on her face and Shinji felt bad for saying that. "I'm. . ." he cut himself off. Why was he apologizing to the enemy? Mana's dismayed expression was gone in seconds.

"Disappointed? Me? Of course not," she stated. "I'd just hate to have some know-nothing hack bump you off when that should be my job, you damn dog."

"Of course," Shinji agreed. He sat down on his bed.

"Shinji?"

"Yeah?"

"I knew you were a mercenary when we met."

"I knew too," Shinji replied. "That was just for fun, right?"

"Oh, yeah," Mana stated. "I'll see you around." The door slid shut and Shinji flopped back on his bed. She was lying, but so was he and they both knew it. Shinji stared at the ceiling for a minute before sitting up and moving to his pack while reaching for his cell phone.

(:ii:)

Misato scowled as she stared at the message on her computer. "God damn it."

"Did you break another laptop?" Misato nearly jumped out of her seat, but relaxed when she saw Ritsuko standing in the doorway. "Twitchy, aren't you?"

"You nearly gave me a heart attack," Misato growled. "How'd your little date with Shinji go?"

"Not so well," Ritsuko stated.

"Do tell."

"I'd rather not talk about it." Now Misato's interest was piqued.

"You didn't sleep with. . ."

"No!" Ritsuko shrieked. "I did not sleep with a man fifteen years my junior!"

"Is that just a first date rule or a life rule?" Misato pressed, enjoying her normally stoic friend's sudden expressiveness. Ritsuko scowled at her.

"So, I take it you don't know that someone tried to assassinate Shinji last night." Misato's jaw dropped.

"What? When did this happen? Is he okay? What happened to. . ."

"He's fine," Ritsuko cut in. "He took care of his assailant." The blond glanced at Misato's computer. "Just what are you obsessing about this time?"

"What do you. . ."

"When you start obsessing about something, you lock yourself in your office and become completely oblivious to everything else," Ritsuko stated. "Don't you remember the last time you did this?" Misato frowned as she thought back to when Kaji had disappeared, leaving behind only murky clues that had eventually led to Commander Ikari's downfall. "Why are you staring at the homepage for Shinji's company?" Shocked out of her reverie, Misato spun to see that Ritsuko had moved behind her to stare at the computer.

"Shinji's hiding something," Misato explained lamely.

"I'll say," Ritsuko murmured. "Does he know that you're trying to spy on him?"

"Yeah," Misato replied. "He caught me before. I think he threatened me." She tried to make the last bit sound like a joke, but, if anything, Ritsuko looked even more serious. "What do you know, Ritsuko?"

"I know that he's not just what he says," Ritsuko replied. "He's extremely dangerous."

"Apparently," Misato agreed as she closed down her browser and stood up. "All the same, he's still Shinji and I'm going to check on him."

(:ii:)

Kaji frowned and dug his phone out as it continued vibrating. He flipped it open and stared at the simple text message. "What is it?" Janet asked.

"It's a message from Shinji," Kaji stated. "Oh, dear. This isn't good."

"What is it?"

"Somebody took a shot at him."

"Oh, God. The shooting has started already? Why did I listen to you?"

"No. Somebody tried to assassinate him," Kaji replied.

"He didn't cause it, did he?" Janet asked.

"He didn't say," Kaji admitted, "though I don't think he's been there long enough to give anyone reason to kill him."

"Darfur," Janet replied. Kaji stared at the woman for a moment.

"That's not fair. They were killing everyone they ran across."

"Until Shinji killed them all within two hours of stepping into the country," Janet commented. Kaji sighed in annoyance.

"Anyway, Shinji doesn't take to kindly too being shot at. To him, this job just went from nothing, to something."

"I take it, this means that Tokyo-3 is about to go hot."

"Very hot," Kaji stated. "He'll probably be packing a lot more heat from now on and if somebody shoots at him again, he'll be more than ready."

"Do we need additional personnel?"

"No. Shinji's too good. They'll be up to their eyeballs in corpses and have no idea what is going on." Janet shuddered.

"I know he's like your son, Kaji, but if you ever died, I'd kill him without a thought," she stated truthfully. "He's just too much of a threat to everyone around him without you to focus him."

"Be reasonable," Kaji stated. "Do you think you'll ever be able to find someone as good as Shinji?"

"It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make." Kaji frowned as how easily she answered. Yes, Shinji was extremely dangerous, but he still had a view of the bigger picture. He wasn't just some sad, sick creature that killed without thought. He was smart and capable. Very, very capable.

"Don't be so quick to judge," Kaji stated as he walked out of the room. He hesitated and glanced back. "Oh, and if you ever do make an attempt on him, make sure you get it right the first time. You won't get a second try."

(:ii:)

Shinji lowered his emptied Glock service pistol and stared down the range. Apparently, the long trip hadn't knocked the sights out of alignment. "Very impressive, Mister Ikari."

"Isn't it?" Shinji asked cheerfully as he laid the weapon down. "Didn't I tell you to call me Shinji?" The range safety officer just gave Shinji a nonplussed look that encouraged him all the more. "I don't think I ever caught your name."

"Matsumoto," the pretty brunette stated, "Lieutenant Matsumoto." Shinji chuckled at her antics and picked up one of his empty magazines. "I have to ask, Mister Ikari, what kind of bullets are you planning on using in that pistol?"

"Company issue hollow points," Shinji stated, "although, you know I'm on the private sector. You don't have to worry about what I'm using."

"Above the law and below the radar," Matsumoto mused darkly.

"Don't put it that way," Shinji ordered playfully. "You make it sound like a bad thing."

"It is," Matsumoto stated.

"You seem to think that I'm a bad guy," Shinji commented. Matsumoto's eyes narrowed and Shinji just smiled. "I'm actually very nice if you give me a chance."

"Figures this is where I'd find you." Shinji turned and his smile dimmed slightly as he saw Mana in the door frame. "Getting some practice in after what happened?"

"Kind of," Shinji stated as his hand casually patted his Glock, "just figured I'd trade up if I was going to be putting up with a bunch of fanatics."

"I see," Mana replied as she moved to stand next to Shinji and set down a small pistol case. "Nice weapon. Glock 21SF?"

"Glock 21LC," Shinji stated. "Company standard issue."

"I've never heard of that make."

"It's a limited run that Glock makes only for us," Shinji explained.

"I was wondering about the flat dark earth frame," Mana commented, gesturing at the pistol's tan polymer grip.

"Made to our specifications," Shinji replied.

"Nice," the redhead volunteered as she drew her own pistol and set it down.

"Well, speaking of personal touches. . ."

"So you know that my company issues Glock sub-compact 9mm," Mana commented as she patted her .45-caliber Glock 30SF. "What can I say? I like big bullets."

"Hey Shinji!" He turned and saw Misha standing in the shooting range's door. It appeared that the only thing keeping her from tackling him in her usual manner was Matsumoto's sharp glare. She walked forward at a much more sedate pace. "Hey, where's your other gun? I think that one's a lot cooler."

"I still have it," Shinji stated as he reached under his shirt and pulled out Kaji's chrome Walther. He frowned as both Mana and Matsumoto snickered. "What? It's a good gun!"

"Sure thing Mister Bond," Matsumoto stated as she tried to hide her uncharacteristically feminine giggles. Shinji pouted and they both laughed harder.

"I've never shot a pistol before," Misha commented as she examined Shinji's Glock.

"Well, we'd best fix that now," Mana commented. Shinji caught her eye inquiringly. The woman just shrugged. "It's something all young women should know how to do," she explained. "And who's better qualified than us?"

"I guess dogs of war would be fairly good at shooting," Matsumoto commented.

"Don't count me in with his kind!" Mana yelped, but there was no real malice. "He's evil. I'm legitimate."

"I'm not evil, I'm equal opportunity," Shinji shot back as he fought to keep his face strait. He had forgotten how infectious Mana's smile was when she was happy.

"Here I was thinking that you had very discerning tastes in clients," Misha cut in.

"So, you're against me too, eh?" Shinji asked with mock exasperation. "Fine. I guess I'll just have to get over it." He pushed another magazine into his Glock and tugged the slide back. "Now the first thing you need to know about shooting. . ."

(:ii:)

Mana frowned as she watched her fellow contractor lecture the young woman on how to shoot. She had forgotten how charming and friendly he could really be when he wasn't trying. He was also, apparently, an excellent teacher. "Not bad, Ikari."

"Huh?" He glanced down range and smiled at the relatively tight cluster of holes on the target. "Oh, right. That's really all there is to target shooting."

"What about self-defense?" Misha pressed.

"Self defense is tricky," Mana cut in.

"Not really," Shinji interrupted. "The only real problem most people have, is realizing that, once you pull the trigger, someone will die. Killing another person is not a natural thing to do and it will mess with you. Once you understand and accept that, you're golden. That understanding will come when you realize that someone must die and it's either you or him." Mana frowned. She hadn't even thought about the psychology behind self-defense.

"That's a good point Shinji," she commented.

"I know," Shinji replied. "When I'm not being a special investigator, I'm an instructor trainer."

"An instructor trainer?" Misha pressed.

"Of course. My company specializes in military advising," Shinji stated. "I train my company's instructors to teach people."

"What do you teach?" Misha asked.

"I'm very well rounded," Shinji stated, "I'm an instructor trainer for my company's integrated CQC system and I'm just an instructor for long-range precision anti-personnel marksmanship.'

"He's a sniper," Mana stated in a theatrical whisper.

"Don't say that," Shinji whined with that ridiculously cute pout of his. "People always think such negative things when they hear that."

"With good reason," the range safety officer cut in. Mana thought her name was Kimiko Matsumoto. "Although, really, anybody can do long range shots anymore, what with ballistic computers and everything."

"I can do a mile and a half on a man with a .416 Barrett, a log book, and a fourteen power scope," Shinji stated. Matsumoto blinked.

"That is very impressive."

"I know."

"So what else do I need to know about self-defense?" Misha asked, apparently done with all the military talk.

(:ii:)

Misato frowned as she drew closer to the pistol range. Her search had eventually led to a trail of amused women that pointed her along. Now she could barely believe what she was hearing. Shinji was laughing, really laughing. Misato stepped into the range and took in the scene before her.

Misha was cradling a large black and tan handgun in her small hands and Shinji and Mana stood behind her, apparently coaching her how to shoot. Misato wasn't sure she had ever seen any of them look quite so content.

"Well, that's about all we can do on this range," Shinji stated. "From here on, things can get really interesting."

"Like what to do if someone catches you by surprise," Mana stated. "Attack me Shinji."

"Pardon?" Mana shot him an annoyed look. "Oh, right." Shinji stepped in close and wrapped his arms around the smaller woman.

"You have to create space," Mana stated as she twisted in Shinji's arm and brought her hand up to hit him in the stomach lightly. "You can use the weapon for that. There are also alternative weapons to consider." A long, glimmering knife appeared in her hand. Misato couldn't help but marvel at how easily they moved. Fighting really was their profession and they were amazing at it. "A gun is metal and if you move it fast enough, you can put someone down without even firing."

"Otherwise known as pistol whipping," Shinji interjected. "Although it's not really as funny as it is in movies. People tend to get really hurt when you beat them over the head with a chunk of metal."

"Interesting position," Misato commented as she stepped into the range. Shinji and Mana glanced up at her and than down at themselves. They quickly stepped apart. "I just heard what happened last night, Shinji."

"Yeah," Shinji replied, patting a long, suppressed weapon laid out on the counter. "It wasn't anything I couldn't handle."

"So, just teaching Misha how to shoot?" Misato pressed as she moved to examine the spread of weapons.

"Some say it's something all young women should know how to do," Shinji stated. "Right, Mana?"

"Right." Misato frowned down at the pistol. Between Shinji and Mana, there were half a dozen pistols on the table.

"How many guns do you two carry?"

"Normally?" Shinji asked. "I don't carry many really, just two. I much prefer knives." He reached for the lapel of his shirt and drew a small, black blade. "They're quieter, quicker, and just as deadly at the right range." He waved his hand and the blade disappeared.

"Cute," Mana commented.

"I know," Shinji stated with a broad grin. Misato couldn't help but smile back. For a moment, just a moment, he was really Shinji. Not the Shinji she had known so long ago, but a real Shinji nonetheless.

"Oh, and by the way. I ran into Asuka on my way down here. She wants to see you two as soon as possible."

"Us?" Mana asked, glancing over at Shinji.

"Yeah, both of two. I don't know what it's about, but it seemed important."

"Alright," Shinji stated. "Just give us a couple of minutes to pack up."

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes.


	8. Chapter 7

I don't own anything.

Company of Wolves

-Chapter Seven:

"What do you think she wants?" Shinji cast a glance at the woman walking beside him and shrugged.

"How should I know?"

"I thought you and the Sub-Commander were close," Mana stated.

"Not really," Shinji stated. "Never really, but I'm trying." They walked in silence until they reached Asuka's door. Shinji pushed it open and slunk it as quietly as possible. Some of Kaji's lessons were just too hard to buck. . .or too amusing. Besides, sneaking up on people led to some positively priceless moments. Sadly, this wasn't one of them. Mana closed the door rather loudly and Asuka jerked awake, looking rather groggy. "Sorry, did we wake you?"

"Of course not!" Asuka snapped. Shinji shot a glance back at Mana who was scratching her nose to hide a grin.

"Right," Shinji drawled. "You needed to see us?"

"What is your policy on side jobs?" Asuka asked. Shinji glanced back at Mana again and the female contractor shrugged.

"What kind of side jobs?" she asked. Asuka looked suddenly rather awkward.

"Remember what we discussed after what happened to you, Shinji?"

"You mean all the way back to yesterday?" Shinji asked. "Yes, I remember yesterday like it was yesterday." Asuka was no amused. "I take it you found the guy who was leaking about you, me, and the rest?"

"Section-2 did," Asuka stated.

"That was quick," Shinji commented.

"Apparently, it was quite obvious," Asuka stated, her jaw clenching slightly. "Section-2 just needed to get their thumbs out of their asses and pay attention."

"So, you're saying that I was almost killed because your Section-2 dropped the ball?" Shinji asked. Asuka nodded tensely. "Who's in charge of Section-2?"

"They're already understaffed," Asuka stated. "Don't kill any of them."

"No promises," Shinji stated flatly. "So, if you caught the guy, what do you need us for?"

"It turns out that Section-2 did a few things they shouldn't have done to find this guy," Asuka stated. "My fault really, I told them to do whatever they needed to do."

"So?" Shinji asked. "Get them to do one more thing they shouldn't do and tell them to kill this guy."

"Roughing a couple assholes up is a little different then killing someone," Asuka stated. "We're under rather severe scrutiny ever since Ikari was executed. As a matter of fact, that's why you two are here, isn't it?"

"Maybe," Shinji replied. "How do you know we won't report this?"

"I'll give you each one hundred K to get this guy out of my hair," Asuka stated. "Besides, he almost got you killed, Shinji."

"Done," Shinji stated.

"I haven't agreed to anything!" Mana snapped.

"I don't need you," Shinji stated. "I can handle this one by myself."

"Well, I'm coming too. I just don't want you speaking for me."

"I wasn't," Shinji stated. "I was agreeing for me." He shook his head in aggravation. "Fucking women."

"Will you two do it?" Asuka demanded, interrupting the argument before it could really get rolling and, surprisingly, overlooking the sleight against her gender.

"Sure," Shinji and Mana replied in unison.

"Good," Asuka stated. "I'm meeting with the man tonight to get him out in the open. One of my agents is outside with the information you'll need."

"Any particular way you want him dead?" Shinji asked.

"Permanently and definitely," Asuka stated. Shinji grinned.

"Wouldn't do it any other way."

(:ii:)

Shinji hummed as he made his way down the hallway. A Section-2 agent had met him at the door with a full folder on his target. Asuka had even set this jack ass up just about perfectly. "You look happy."

"This should be an easy hundred K," Shinji stated.

"How are we doing this?" Mana asked. Shinji paused and flipped through the folder. He pulled out a map of the city and laid it on the folder.

"This is the restaurant where Asuka is going to meet this guy. I'm thinking the shot will be from here." Mana stared at the building Shinji gestured to and than at the map's key. "I'm going to get with Section-2 and set about getting a ride up there."

"That's about a half a mile."

"So?" Shinji asked.

"Making this a little too complicated, aren't you?" Mana asked. "A half mile shot through a city can be hard as hell. The buildings' effects on the wind can wreak havoc on even the shortest shot."

"I know," Shinji stated. "This ain't my first rodeo. Ever hear of a guy named Guadalupe-Salvatore?"

"That was you?" Mana asked.

"Well, we weren't technically in that country at the time," Shinji replied as he tucked the map back in the folder and started back down the hallway. If his hearing hadn't been as good as it was, he might have missed Mana's muttered, "I wanted that guy." After a moment of thought he heard her run after him.

"Was that shot really from two miles away?" she asked. "From outside the country he was in?"

"If I knew anything about it, I would assure you it was a little more," Shinji stated. "And it was from a bordering country."

"Alright," Mana stated, "I'll play your game. If you had done it, how would you have done it?"

"I would have used a proprietary 10.5x115mm round with a 450-grain solid alloy, computer-lathed bullet," Shinji stated. "I would have fired said round from a hand-crafted bolt action rifle with such tight tolerances that I could barely pull the bolt back. This rifle would have to be mounted on a tripod with mechanical adjustments. Wind measurements at the point between the rifle and the halfway point and the halfway point and the target as well as at the half way point would also have been taken by advanced scouts. Such a shot would require a dedicated team of both shooters and gunsmiths."

"You're really the Ranger," Mana almost whispered, using the name that had been written on the casing they had purposefully left behind. "I can't believe I'm talking to the man who made that shot."

"Might have made," Shinji corrected. "Besides, it was Rangers, plural. That was a team shot, or it would have been." Mana ignored him.

"Do you know how many people have come forward to lay claim to that shot?" she continued. "It had to be at least twenty. All of them were proven wrong and the men who made that shot are legends. One of my last partners was a Green Beret sniper. He spent all his free time going over that shot trying to figure it out. God, if I told him you were here, he'd be here tomorrow just to shake your hand."

"If I had done it; now, if you'll excuse me, I have a blond to see."

(:ii:)

Shinji glanced around the laboratory and carefully took note of the cameras. In the middle of the lab, Ritsuko was hunched over a computer. Shinji could tell she knew he was there. She was so tense that she was almost trembling. Shinji made his way towards her and sat down next to her laptop on her desk. "So," he began and the blond jumped an inch. "Why so tense, Ritsuko?"

"Don't play with me Shinji!" the blond snapped. "We both know why you're here."

"Yes, we do," Shinji stated, "but, you've got my motivation all wrong."

"It isn't money?" Ritsuko asked waspishly. Shinji frowned and considered that.

"Okay, maybe you've partly got my motivation all wrong," he corrected. "I do like money."

"Than, what's the rest of your motivation?" Ritsuko demanded.

"All in good time," Shinji replied. Ritsuko slammed her hands down angrily on the table.

"Damn it Shinji! Don't you dare play with me. If you're going to kill me, just kill me!" Shinji stared at her seriously for a long, tense moment and than grinned broadly.

"No."

"Why not?" Ritsuko whispered tiredly, the fight running out of her.

"Not here and I'll need some questions answered when I do," Shinji answered as he stood up. Ritsuko stared at him uncomprehendingly.

"Do you know what I could do?" she asked. She seemed to regain some of her composure. "I could turn you in."

"To who?" Shinji asked. "You know, better than almost anyone, that we're everywhere." He was bluffing of course, playing up her fear of SEELE and her belief that he worked for them.

"What if I kill you first?" she asked. Shinji could hear the hysterical edge in her voice. "Did you think of that Shinji? What if I buy a gun and kill you first?"

"I like it," Shinji stated. "I think you should try. It'll definitely make life more interesting than if you try to run." Her sudden excitement left her and she collapsed into her chair.

"Are you insane?" she asked. Shinji shrugged. "Do you want to die or something?"

"Do you want to play therapist with me?" Shinji asked. "I must warn you though, my company has, in my case, officially suspended the rule that all employees must speak with a psychiatrist upon returning from a job."

"What if I run?"

"I won't bother chasing," Shinji stated. "I'll leave it to my partners. They've tracked slicker and more dangerous people down. Sadly, they won't be anywhere near as kind as I'll be."

"Why are you doing this to me?" she asked after a long moment of silence.

"To keep myself amused on this long and arduous job," Shinji stated. "My other hobbies just don't seem to be hacking it."

"I'm not just a hobby," Ritsuko stated. Shinji's grin widened.

"That's it," he stated, "don't give in. Keep fighting. Maybe you'll come out of this alive." Ritsuko stared at him in disbelief.

"You're worse than your father ever was."

"So?"

(:ii:)

"Trying to sneak away?" Shinji grinned blankly at the redhead staring at him. "If I hadn't come here, would you have called me?"

"Maybe," Shinji stated as he glanced at the waiting helicopter. "A news chopper?"

"Not much more suspicious than a government agency owning a news chopper," Mana stated as she too turned to look at the helicopter. "What's in the bag?"

"The right tool for the job," Shinji stated. He checked his watch. They had three hours until Asuka would have her meeting. It was already getting dark out. "Shall we?"

"Alright."

(:ii:)

"I'll be back on station in two hours," the pilot stated. "I'll be here within ten minutes after you call."

"Sounds good," Shinji called back over the sound of the chopper's engines filtering in through the open door. Shinji leaned a little bit closer. "Fuck us and they'll need your blood type to identify what's let behind." The man glanced back over his shoulder at Shinji and Shinji grinned broadly for him before following Mana out onto the building top landing pad.

"What did you say to him?" Mana asked as the chopper lifted off.

"Just put the fear of me into him," Shinji replied as he picked up his rifle case. Mana led them to the proper corner of the building and Shinji unzipped his case, throwing it open to reveal his weapon of choice.

"Wow," Mana commented. "Fancy. Is that the rifle?"

"No," Shinji replied as he stared down at the weapon. "This is just an extremely accurate factory-made .50-caliber. Those rounds and rifles cost way too much for such an easy job."

"How much?"

"Considering that everything is custom made," Shinji began, "a whole lot." He withdrew his DSR-50 and flipped down the bi-pod. They were lucky that there weren't any taller buildings around where they could be spotted from. Shinji set down the rifle, counting on the grey cloth wrapped around it to camouflage it into the loose gravel surrounding the landing pad.

"What kind of scope is it?" Mana pressed.

"Schmidt and Bender," Shinji replied.

"Meters?" Shinji nodded, confirming that his scope was metric. "A .50-cal, huh? Why not use a .408 or a .416?" Mana pressed. "They've both got better accuracy and better range against human targets."

"They do against most factory-loaded .50-caliber rounds," Shinji stated as he reached into his rifle case and pulled out a small white box. It was labeled simply ' Cartridge, Caliber .50, XLR-AP. Max,' and dated. He flipped it over and handed it to Mana. "Those are the external ballistics." The redhead gawked at the table.

"Wow. These are amazing."

"Yeah," Shinji replied. "Besides, she emphasized permanently and definitely dead. Nothing quite says permanently and definitely dead like a half-inch hole through your skull, though, fifty-cals tend not to leave much."

"Who's Max?"

"Max is my Company's precision weapons lab," Shinji explained. "They create our magic bullets and our rifles."

"Than who are you?" Mana asked. "After all, Max was also the marksman." Shinji grinned. He remembered how Mana's tastes for the obscure rivaled even his own.

"I am Zamiel," he answered.

"But Max was the shooter," Mana stated.

"Ah, but Zamiel guided the bullet," Shinji replied. Mana smiled broadly back and pulled a small tripod-mounted spotting scope from the bag she carried. She rolled out a shooting mat beside the rifle and glassed the target building.

"Gimme the picture of the target."

"How about a please?" Shinji asked as he finished unfurling the speckled, digital urban camouflage blanket and rolled out his own matt. He handed the picture over and Mana stared at it for a long time as Shinji got himself situated behind his rifle and checked the powerful scope mounted on top of the weapon before popping its protective caps. The beauty of modern cities was; they were so brightly lit that there was no need for night vision devices.

"So, two hours to go," Mana commented as she dragged the blanket over the both of them just in case a helicopter flew over head.

"Yup," Shinji replied as he opened the white box and withdrew a single fifty-caliber round in a black, air-tight aluminum casing and laid it next to his weapon.

"I think it's about time we had a talk," Mana stated. Shinji froze. He had just fallen into one of the oldest traps in the world, one that men had been unsuccessfully taught to instinctively avoid.

"Fucking women."

(:ii:)

"We both know we were lying about what happened between us in France," Mana stated.

"What brought this up?" Shinji asked. "I thought we were getting along just fine in mutual malice."

"I could hate you when you were that calculating, plotting killer that I've been dealing with," Mana stated. "I could pretend that you weren't the man from France."

"What's changed that?" Shinji asked. "Not to brag, but I am a calculating, plotting killer."

"That's not who you were when you were teaching Misha how to shoot," Mana stated. "That man is the man I met in France. Now shut up. I know you're trying to get me off topic. As I was saying, we were both lying and we know it."

"No we don't," Shinji stated as he hugged his rifle a little tighter. Could he throw Mana off the side of the building? No. That would get in the way of taking the shot. Afterwards? No. By then it would be too late. "As a matter of fact, I'm perfectly comfortable with our current take on those events."

"It's a lie though," Mana pointed out. "We had something Shinji, something real."

"We _had_ something," Shinji agreed, emphasizing the past tense. "Can we please not talk about this?"

"Remember the jokes we made about quitting our jobs and just living there together?" Mana pressed. Shinji didn't answer. "That had a deeper meaning, didn't it? It did for me and I'm sure it did for you."

"Don't go putting your meanings to my actions," Shinji ordered, trying to not admit that she had the truth at her fingertips. "My actions don't always have any meaning at all."

"We both would have left this for each other," Mana commented quietly. "What's keeping us from doing that now? We could just walk away."

"No we couldn't," Shinji replied, "if for no better reason than neither of us could walk away in the middle of a job."

"What about after?" Mana pressed. Shinji swallowed. What about after, indeed? What was keeping him here? Kaji had always encouraged him to have something beyond work. Shinji was sure that his adopted father would understand. "The world will keep turning without us Shinji."

"What happens if we end up staring each other down?" Shinji asked finally. "Don't laugh. This could very well happen. Could you pull the trigger for what you believe in if it was the day before you leave this life with the person staring back at you?" Mana was utterly silent and Shinji checked his watch. They hard thirty minutes until the target was set to arrive.

"I don't think I could," she stated finally. "Could you?" Shinji frowned.

"Of course I could. I could do it without hesitation."

"I don't believe you." Shinji turned his head and met her eyes over the stock of his weapon.

"I could," he repeated. "That's just the kind of monster I am. It might kill me later, but I could."

"I see." Mana turned back to her scope. "I want to be with you Shinji, I really do. What do you think?" Shinji swallowed. His eye glued to the scope again. Damn it. Why couldn't he lie to her?

"Yeah," he grunted flatly.

"Then let's just be together for now." Damn it. That was exactly what Shinji wanted, but didn't she know how it would tear him apart if he had to kill her in the end? Did she think that a showdown was the farthest possibility?

"Mana." He swallowed. His throat felt dry. "I love you and I do want to be with you, but my mission and beliefs are who I am. I can't abandon them."

"I'm not asking you to for now," Mana stated, "but at the same time, your mission shouldn't define you. That's not healthy." Shinji shot her a look.

"I'm not healthy," he stated. "I really am a monster. I care nothing for humans and feel nothing for almost everything in this world. I see no problem in destroying, killing, and burning anything I can to achieve my goals. I have started wars because they work to my benefit."

"You act like you're not human," Mana commented. Shinji turned back to his rifle and glanced at his watch.

"We're in the fifteen minute zone." His left hand gripped the stock and brought it tight into his shoulder. "Black sedan." He watched the vehicle as it pulled up to the restaurant's valet.

"Negative," Mana stated. "That is not the target." Shinji eyed the man for himself.

"Confirmed negative." They ran through a dozen more vehicles before they spotted Asuka. "Guy lets his boss beat him to a meeting," Shinji commented. "Maybe she lied and we're just taking out some idiot."

"Only someone who's worked with the CIA would believe that," Mana commented. "Here we go." Shinji eyed the man who had stepped out of a low, red Ferrari.

"How much does NERV pay?"

"Not that much," Mana stated. "And Section-2 found this guy about twenty-four hours after the Sub-Commander did some nut crushing."

"He's an idiot," Shinji stated. "Ah, look! He even brought along his trophy wife." He watched as they made their way into the restaurant and to the window seat that Asuka had arranged for.

"You know, Asuka is putting a lot of faith in us by sitting across from the target," Mana commented. "Damn, the wife is sitting next to him."

"Meh," Shinji grunted, "brainless little bimbo. Look at her, it's like a little girl at the grown up table."

"And that dress is horrible," Mana added. "Know what? Get her too." Shinji grinned and popped the cap on the round's protective case. He withdrew the long, glittering projectile and fed it into his rifle's chamber before closing the bolt on it.

"Give it to me."

"Range to target is nine-zero-one meters," Mana stated. "Wind is from north to east, no value. On scope."

"On target," Shinji replied as he brought the crosshairs to rest on his target. They had already dialed range, Mana was just reiterating.

"Fire." Shinji squeezed the trigger and the rifle barked loudly, though the new muzzle brake kept the recoil to such a minimum that he managed to keep the scope on target. He watched as the massive round slammed into the side of the man's head and promptly removed said head from his shoulders.

"Hit," Mana reported. "You hit him in the head."

"Definitely and permanently," Shinji reiterated.

"You just made a headshot at nine hundred meters," Mana stated. "Even with modern technology, headshots should only be attempted within four hundred."

"I'm good," Shinji said with as shrug as he capped his scope and ejected the spent casing.

"You missed the wife though."

"Must have been a thicker skull than I though," Shinji commented, trying hard not to laugh as he pulled back the blanket and went about packing his rifle and shooting mat up. He tugged out his phone and dialed the pilot's number. The man picked up during the first ring.

"Ready?"

"Ready," Shinji replied, standing and throwing his rifle case over his shoulder. He flipped his phone shut and stuck it back in his coat pocket.

"So," Mana began. "What do you have planned after this?"

"Not much," Shinji stated.

"Want to go grab something to eat?"

"Okay."

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. Ah fuck it. Time for another swing at romance. Shit. Oh, and I got Metal Gear Solid 4. It's fucking amazing. Now I haven't finished it yet, so nobody say nothing.

At the moment, I can't think of anything new to rant about. The world's spinning down the drain and nobody gives a shit, so why should I?


	9. Chapter 8

I don't own anything.

Company of Wolves

-Chapter Eight:

"No way! You were in the Balkans, too?"

"For the entire conflict," Shinji stated as he sipped his beer.

"I heard Lupo Cattivo was in the area, but I never saw any of those guys," Mana stated. "Where were you?"

"We were everywhere," Shinji stated. "When we go in, we tend to go native pretty quick." He dug out his wallet and hunted through it. "Here." Mana took the picture and stared at it for a minute before laughing. "What?"

"You look ridiculous in those robes," Mana stated. Shinji snatched the picture back. It was of him and Kaji on a job, both dressed in full Arabic robes and surplus Soviet gear. "Who's the other guy?"

"My dad," Shinji stated.

"Your dad is in the same line of work?"

"He brought me in," Shinji answered as he tucked the picture back in. "He doesn't do too many field ops anymore."

"I would hope not," Mana commented. "Uh, oh. Incoming." Shinji glanced over his shoulder and saw Asuka storming towards them. She looked livid. "I told you we should have gone further from the Geo-Front."

"Please, she probably has us both being followed," Shinji shot back as he examined his options. Running away looked good at the moment. "I've got to go to the bathroom." He stood and frowned as Mana grabbed his sleeve. "What?"

"I'm not letting you get away and leave me for the fall man," Mana growled.

"Do you really think. . ." he trailed off at the look Mana was giving him. "So, together?"

"Too late."

"You idiots!" Shinji put on his best grin and turned to Asuka.

"Hey, Red. Where's that dress you were wearing? You looked really good in it."

"It is covering in blood and gore," Asuka gritted out as she seized Shinji by the collar and dragged him to his feet, an especially impressive feat considering he probably had at least seventy pounds on her. "I told you to wait to take the. . ." Mana cleared her throat loudly before taking a sip of her beer.

"We'd prefer that you didn't announce our previous favor to you in public," Shinji stated. Asuka stared at him for a moment before glancing around.

"Oh."

"Yeah," Mana grunted. "Oh. Care to have a seat?" Asuka released Shinji's lapels and walked around the table to sit across from him next to Mana. He sat back down and sipped his beer. "So, what's your gripe? You wanted that bastard fired and fired permanently."

"I told you two not to fire him while I was around," Asuka growled, catching on quick enough.

"No you didn't," Mana stated.

"Yes I did!" Asuka protested. "It was in your file." Shinji glanced over at Mana and saw her glancing at him. Asuka gaped at both of them. "You two didn't read the file, did you?"

"We skimmed it," Shinji replied.

"What kind of assass. . ." Shinji cleared his throat loudly and sipped his beer.

"We aren't," Mana stated. "We are both professional private military contractors." Shinji was quietly pleased that she had grouped him together with herself. She was wrong of course, but it was nice nonetheless. "Normally, we don't have to deal with files."

"I'm sending you the bill for that dress," Asuka stated.

"It can't be that bad!" Shinji protested. "I bet you could get it dry cleaned."

"You think I'm going to wear it after what it's been covered in?" Asuka demanded. Shinji shrugged. If he threw out an outfit every time he got a little blood on it, he'd spend half his paycheck on clothes.

"Meh," he grunted in place of arguing. "It can't be that bad."

"You blew his head off!" Asuka wailed. Shinji stared at her blankly.

"Is that some new slang for firing somebody?" he asked.

"I've never heard it put that way," Mana agreed quite innocently. Asuka gawked at them again.

"Now, why don't you just relax?" Shinji asked. "Have a beer. . ." he trailed off as she snatched his glass and pounded it back. "I meant for you to get your own, but that's fine too."

"Waiter!" Mana added.

(:ii:)

Shinji lit his cigarette and leaned back against the wall. Partying with Asuka and Mana had been fun, but in the end, there was still work to do. Luckily Asuka had managed to incapacitate herself rather quickly and Shinji and Mana had been forced to call the rest of the night on account of drunken redheads. That meant Shinji could get back to the task at hand. Namely, the blond.

Across the street Ritsuko parked her car and climbed out carefully. She was certainly on edge and for good reason. Shinji pushed off the wall and froze. To his complete shock, a man ghosted out from behind a nearby car and slinked up behind the blond.

Shinji contemplated his approach for a second and drew his Glock. He fired once as he walked across the street. The man took the heavy-weight frangible in the back of his skull and collapsed in a heap as Ritsuko spun around, alarmed by the man's sudden impact with terra firma.

"You're certainly popular tonight," Shinji commented as he kneeled and rolled the man on his back while keeping his Glock vaguely pointed in Ritsuko's direction. "Don't try to run or I'll blow out your knee caps." He patted the man down and came up with only a knife and an integrally suppressed .22 pistol.

"Who is he?"

"Probably hired help," Shinji stated as he replaced the pistol. "Amateurs don't normally carry stilettos."

"From who?" Ritsuko asked.

"Cult probably," Shinji answered. "This is the same model .22 as the guy who came after me." Shinji climbed to his feet. "Now, how about those questions?" Ritsuko gawked as him. "Hey, don't think I don't get the irony of saving you so that I can kill you." Shinji glanced around a little and used his foot to kind of wedge Ritsuko's assailant under a nearby car. It was late and, hopefully, nobody would wander by until he was done. "What say we go inside?"

(:ii:)

Kaji frowned as he watched his fax machine spit out page after page of typed notes. "What's that?" Kaji jumped a little and cursed as he spun to face his boss. "Damn, must be bad news. Really bad if it has you this distracted."

"An old friend of mine is dead," Kaji stated. "Ikari faxed in a new report."

"Ikari and somebody dying usually don't go together unless he caused it," Janet pointed out.

"True enough," Kaji returned. "Shinji did kill her, but he had good reason."

"And that is?" Kaji handed Janet the first couple of sheets of the report. Her eyes breezed over it for a moment before freezing. "Oh my God."

"Yeah," Kaji stated. "That's exactly how SEELE planned to initiate the Third Impact and it's probably not too far off if they're trying to do it again."

"Why did your friend know all this?" Janet demanded.

"She was almost running things the last time," Kaji answered. "I'd hate to say it, but one death for this information? Worth it, even if it was a friend."

"I think we're going to have to work fast," Janet stated. "Summarize this thing for me with an emphasis on necessary materials. Let's see if we can pull the rug out from under them."

"What about Shinji?" Kaji asked.

"He is to stay on station," Janet ordered. "Tell him to find out exactly what NERV is doing. If need be, tell him to destroy it."

"You want Shinji to destroy an entire government agency?" Kaji asked.

"Seems to be a specialty of his," Janet replied, "along with countries, cities, and armies. Although, do emphasize that he is still working for me and will not lift a finger until he can prove to me what's happening."

"Understood."

(:ii:)

Asuka scowled as she snatched up her cell phone. She had been having a bad day before, but now her phone just wouldn't stop ringing and she had one hell of a hangover from trying to keep up with Shinji and Mana at the bar last night. "What?"

"Where the hell have you been?" Misato demanded. "I've been trying to call you since nine!"

"I called in sick," Asuka growled, hating the woman's high pitched shrieks. "As a matter of fact, I'm still. . ."

"Ritsuko is dead." Asuka almost dropped her phone. "I'm at your door now. Let me in." Asuka staggered out of her bedroom and to her apartment's front door. She fiddled with the deadbolt and was almost knocked over as Misato shoved the door open.

"Watch it Misato!" Asuka noted that she was still holding her cell phone to her ear and quickly closed it.

"Somebody found her in an elevator in her apartment building," Misato stated, not even bothering to close the door as she swept into the apartment. "They found a man in a dumpster not too far away."

"Misato!" The purple-haired woman froze in her frantic pacing and turned to face Asuka. "Calm down." Misato stared at her for a moment before collapsing into one of the chairs.

"She's actually dead." Asuka cursed mentally. She should have let the Colonel just go on ranting. Misato lurched forward suddenly and buried her face in her hands. Asuka sat next to her as best she could and wrapped her arm around her former guardian's shoulders.

"It'll be okay." Asuka could have kicked herself. Misato's best friend was dead and here she was saying it would be okay? "We'll catch the bastard that did this to her." Misato managed to curtail her sobs somewhat.

"The cops think they've already got him," she managed. "The guy in the dumpster had a pistol and a knife. They think he killed her and then somebody killed him. I heard a couple of cops saying that he got killed execution style."

"That sounds like a professional hit," Asuka commented. "It must be that fucking cult that went after Shinji."

"That's what Section-2 thinks," Misato replied, swallowing thickly. "They've launched their own parallel investigation." Asuka's hand clenched sharply. Those fuck heads in Section-2 again. They were supposed to be watching all high-ranking personnel involved with the Eva project. Where the fuck had they been at the time?

(:ii:)

Shinji stared down the sights of his pistol and popped off a few more rounds at the target down range. They all hit dead center and he smiled. At least the new firing pin and barrel hadn't thrown off his weapon's accuracy. "Hey you." He glanced over his shoulder and smiled as he caught sight of Mana.

"Hey," he returned as he holstered his Glock inside his waistband. "Sorry about running off last night. Somewhere between the bar and dropping Asuka's drunken ass off, I remembered that I had a report due."

"Let me get this strait," Mana replied as she set down a shooting bag, "you are drunk with two beautiful, drunken women and you run off to file a report?"

"That's about the size of it," Shinji stated. "Although, am I the only one who thinks that you're implying the possibility of a drunken threesome with our dear Sub-Commander?"

"That's what it sounded like to me," Matsumoto called. That earned Shinji a rather hard cuff to the back of his head.

"I guess it makes sense," Mana said in annoyance. "You're a womanizer sober, so drunk you're nothing but a busybody."

"That does kind of make sense." He gathered up the various paraphernalia he had spread out to zero his Glock and packed it away.

"Oh, I forgot to mention," Mana added, "that blond doctor is dead."

"You don't say," Shinji returned. He saw Mana's eyebrow rise.

"There, there cry on my shoulder if you have to," she offered sarcastically.

"People die," Shinji stated with a shrug.

"Yes but, generally, there is a stronger reaction when one has dated the deceased." Shinji chuckled.

"So, you heard about that."

"Everybody's heard about that," Matsumoto stated. "The doc didn't get out much. Quite a shock that you managed to score a date off her."

"Was she a bad lay or something?" Mana asked.

"Didn't sleep with her," Shinji stated. "Besides, somebody already tried to kill me in this town. Why should I be surprised when the rest of Project E starts dropping?"

"Project E?"

"Don't ask." Mana studied him carefully for a while. A long while. A lot longer then Shinji was wholly comfortable with. "What?"

"Nothing." The doors banged open and they all jumped as Misato stormed into the room. Shinji could tell immediately that this wasn't going to be good when the purple-haired Colonel caught sight of him and hurried at him, completely ignoring Matsumoto.

"Shinji," she began slowly, "Ritsuko is dead."

"Yeah," Shinji replied as he awkwardly patted her on the shoulder. "Mana already told me." So he wasn't good at comforting people. That wasn't his job. His job was to cause people to be in need of comfort. Misato stared at him with big, watery eyes for a moment before burying her face in his chest and beginning to sob. "Somebody tell me what to do."

"Try holding her dumb ass," Mana suggested. Shinji wrapped his arms around the shorter woman and hugged her as best he could. "Jesus Shinji, you'd think you'd never had to deal with someone who just lost a dear friend."

"I never have," Shinji growled.

"I'm sorry," Misato sniffled, her sobs finally tapering off. "I just can't believe she's gone."

"Its fine," Shinji stated. "Do they know who did it?"

"The police are still investigating, but they think so," Misato stated. "Asuka has issued orders for everyone involved with the Evas to be especially carefully." Shinji grinned and patted the briefcase by his feet.

"No worries. I'm good."

"What's in there?" Mana asked.

"An insurance policy," Shinji replied. "I'm hungry. Anyone care to join me?"

(:ii:)

Misato trailed behind Mana and Shinji as they chatted amiably. Strangely, it made her feel better to watch Shinji being so genuinely happy. "Mister Ikari? Miss Kirishima?" The three stopped and turned to see a young man in a black suit walking towards them quickly.

"Section-2, yes?" Shinji asked, his face becoming deadly serious in a moment. "Seem to have dropped the ball again, haven't you?"

"We are investigating Doctor Akagi's death," the man stated. "I have been ordered to retrieve your weapons."

"Our weapons?" Mana asked. She flicked her thumb over her shoulder at Shinji. "I can understand him. . ."

"Hey," Shinji grumbled.

". . .but what have I done?"

"A man who is being investigated in conjunction with Doctor Akagi's death was shot with a .45 and you both carry .45s," the agent stated.

"Okay, we carry .45s. So do a whole lot of people. Seems like kind of a flimsy reason to take our weapons for examination," Shinji commented. "Especially since people are trying to kill me."

"Nothing new about that," Mana commented, but Shinji ignored her. "Maybe they're still pissed about us showing up and causing them all this grief." The man scowled at them and reached inside his coat. Shinji was on him in a flash, one hand around the man's neck, jerking his head back and forcing him to arch his back while the other hand held a short, double-edged knife against the agent's ribcage.

"Shinji!" Misato yelped in surprise.

"You weren't about to pull a weapon on us, were you?" he asked, ignoring Misato completely. "You have no idea how bad of an idea that would be. See, I can stick this knife through your ribs and into your heart. Your blood pressure would plummet, you'd black out fast, and then you'd die. Normally, that's how I'd do it, but maybe, just for you, I'd go for the liver and give the blade a nice little twist. You don't want the full details of that, but do know this, it takes a long time and is very hard to fix."

"This is from Sub-Commander Sohryu," the agent stuttered as he pulled out a sheet of paper. Shinji released the man's throat and the agent dropped to the ground.

"What is it?" Mana asked.

"An order signed by Sub-Commander Sohryu to turn over our weapons," Shinji stated as he slipped his knife back under his polo. "I'm not too used to dealing with these bureaucratic government agencies. Can she do that?"

"I don't know," Mana stated. They both turned to Misato.

"Don't look at me," Misato stated. "I stay out of the politics of the job. I have no idea what they can and can't make you do." Shinji stared at the paper for a moment before reaching under his polo and pulling his Glock from his waist. The fact that the agent flinched at the motion seemed to make Shinji quite pleased.

"Believe me, I'm going to speak with Red about this," he stated, turning the pistol to present it butt first. Mana stared at him for a moment before reaching into her suit jacket and pulling her own Glock. They handed over their weapons and the agent walked away.

"Jesus Christ, Shinji. Little quick on the draw, aren't you?" Misato asked.

"Places I go, it's usually better to draw first and negotiate from a position of strength," Shinji replied. "Some people only understand a gun being pointed at them."

"Haiba?" Mana asked. Shinji nodded.

"Come again?" Misato asked.

"Haiba," Mana stated. "It's an Arabic concept, kind of a combination of respect and intimidation. Some people only play along with you if you have haiba. Of course, as a woman, I have to work a lot harder for it if I get it at all. I'm going to guess that you've got it, right Shinji?"

"You know it," Shinji stated as he opened his range bag and reached inside.

"You handed that over way to easily," Mana added. Shinji grinned and pulled out a Glock identical to his confiscated Glock 21LC. "Should have seen that coming,"

"Yeah," Shinji agreed as he tugged the slide back to chamber a round and holstered it. "I couldn't help but notice that the weapon you turned over was a 36."

"Yeah," Mana stated. "So?"

"You had a 30 on the range," Shinji pointed out.

"The 36 is my new carry gun," Mana stated as she reached into her pistol bag and pulled out the similar-looking weapon. "All the mags I have right now are for the 36." Shinji reached under his polo and pulled out a magazine. "Thank you." She took the magazine and pushed it into her own pistol before tugging the slide back and slipping it into her holster. "Much better, right?"

"Right." They both glanced back at Misato looking somewhat guilty.

"I didn't see anything," Misato stated. Shinji grinned as he picked up his range bag and briefcase before slinging an arm around her hips and kissing her cheek.

"You're a doll. Now how about that food? Let's get out of here and get something real to eat. My treat."

"Sounds good," Mana agreed. She shot the man a glance. "Only five-inches Shinji?"

"It's not the size that matters, it's how you use it," Shinji stated patting his sheathed stiletto. "Besides, you've never complained before."

"Are we still talking about the knife now?" Misato asked.

"Were we ever?"

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. Cricket, cricket.


	10. Chapter 9

I don't own anything.

Company of Wolves

-Chapter Nine:

Shinji leaned back in his seat and stared at the sky overhead. "I love convertibles."

"Yeah," Misato agreed from the backseat. "Huh, I never noticed that building before."

"Do you still drive like you used to?" Shinji asked.

"I don't see what that has to do with anything," Misato began, "but yes, I still drive like I used to."

"That explains it," Shinji replied. "It's hard to notice much when you doing seventy-five down the straight-aways."

"Seventy-five?" Mana asked. "Kilometers or miles?"

"Miles." The redhead whistled appreciatively.

"Lead foot?" she ventured.

"And a brass pair," Shinji answered. "She drives like a Hollywood stuntman on crack."

"I do not!" Misato huffed. Shinji glanced over his shoulder at her and she fidgeted slightly. "Well, maybe a little."

"Understatement," Shinji murmured. "So, where's the best chow in town?"

"I don't get out much," Misato admitted after a moment. "What about you two?"

"Too busy," Shinji stated. "I can tell you that at least one of the cooks in the Geo-Front's cafeteria is Indian, though."

"You noticed the curry taste too?" Mana asked. "God, I thought I was the only one. I haven't had this much curry forced on me since the Middle East."

"Camp Puller?" Shinji ventured. He smirked and Mana shot him a glance. "I spent a couple of months there teaching Green Berets local customs."

"I thought you guys only worked with locals," Mana commented.

"It was a quickie job," Shinji stated with a shrug. "The Green Berets catch on really quick, so it didn't take long."

"I don't remember there being Special Forces at Puller," Mana stated.

"There weren't," Shinji stated.

"But you just said there were," Misato replied.

"Unofficial," Mana stated. "You get used to working with guys that aren't there in our line of work."

"Your line," Shinji corrected. "I'm one of the guys that isn't there."

"I thought your companies did the same thing," Misato stated.

"Lupo Cattivo specializes mostly in training, but we can do some Black Ops," Shinji explained. "Jäger runs security and VIP protection ops with some small scale intelligence annalyst abilities."

"I see," Misato stated. "How does someone get into that line of work?"

"I applied," Mana stated. "That's the normal method, but some companies require that you be brought in. Like how Shinji joined the dogs." Shinji reached over and pinched her. "Ow! Hey!"

"You were brought in?" Misato asked. Shinji glared at Mana out of the corner or his eye and saw the redhead mouth an apology. "Who brought you in?"

"I just ran into a guy," Shinji stated.

"Just some random guy?" Misato asked.

"Pretty much," Shinji replied. "He found me when I wasn't exactly running on all cylinders and he liked what he saw."

"What did he see?" Misato asked. Shinji grinned and held up his empty hand. He closed his fingers into a fist before opening them again to reveal a small blackjack knife between his middle and index fingers.

"Something useful."

(:ii:)

Misato frowned as she watched Shinji and Mana flirt and bicker. She couldn't get Shinji's words out of her head. Something useful? What the hell did that mean? Misato forcefully put it aside and smirked. "Are you two sure you've never met before?" They glanced up at her and gave her nearly identical mischievous grins.

"Yup," Shinji stated. "We've definitely never met before Tokyo-3."

"Sure," Misato drawled. "So, what? You two met when you weren't somewhere or something?"

"We don't know what you're talking about," Mana stated. Misato sighed in annoyance.

"Fine." She picked up her menu again and looked through it. "Wow. This stuff is expensive."

"Order what you want," Shinji stated. "Like I said, it's on me."

"Gee, I wish my company paid that well," Mana commented.

"Implying something?" Shinji asked from behind a menu.

"Just commenting," Mana stated as she picked up a menu as well. "I forgot to ask, are you actually here?"

"Yes, I'm actually here," Shinji stated simply.

"Are you sure?" Misato pressed, catching Mana's eye. The younger woman grinned.

"Yes," Shinji stated.

"I don't know," Mana commented, "you are kind of slinking around like a spook." Shinji lowered his menu and looked from Mana to Misato.

"Knock it off."

"Knock what off?" Misato asked innocently.

"We aren't doing anything," Mana added. Shinji started to raise his menu again, but paused. He folded it up and set it on the table while glancing around. "Shinji?"

"Somebody's watching." Misato froze, finally paying attention to the itching between her shoulder blades that she had been ignoring. She looked around and cursed their decision to eat in the restaurant's outside patio.

"Into the building," Mana hissed.

"Yeah," Shinji agreed. "Go. Now."

(:ii:)

Shinji made his way as quickly as he could towards the back of the restaurant, as far from the large picture windows in front as possible. "What do you think Shinji?" Mana asked.

"Back door," Shinji stated, tightening his grip on his briefcase.

"What about waiting for Section-2?" Misato asked as they stopped near the bar along the back of the building.

"That didn't help Ritsuko much, did it?" Shinji snapped a little more harshly then he intended. The shocked look on Misato's face made his scowl. He needed her paying attention, not distracted by her recent loss.

"If we can just get to my car, we'll be okay," Mana gritted. "I just hope they haven't gotten to it. I like that car and I'll be pissed if it gets blown up. The back door should be through the kitchen."

"My thoughts exactly," Shinji replied. He glanced at the front door and watched as five men walked in. None were Asian, but that didn't mean much. Because of NERV, there were many nationalities in Tokyo-3; however, the five walked in a carefully ordered group and their eyes scanned the restaurant carefully. "Let's go."

"Right," Mana stated, she was staring at the men too. "You take point. I'll ride trail."

"Right." Shinji turned and pushed his way into the kitchen through the swinging doors. Several people said something, but he didn't pay them any attention and nobody actually tried to stop them. They found the backdoor under a big, glowing exit sign. Shinji pushed it open and came face-to-face with a dark-haired man in a long black coat. The poor man was so surprised that he didn't even think to raise his sub-machinegun until it was too late.

Shinji dropped his briefcase and grabbed the man's wrist before twisting it sharply. The man was forced to double over slightly to try to alleviate the pain in his arm. Shinji took advantage of that by using his other hand to grab the back of the man's head and ram him into the alleyway wall as hard as he could. Just to be on the safe side, Shinji pulled him back and slammed him again before letting him drop.

"That's disgusting Shinji," Mana commented.

"Worked, didn't it?" Shinji asked as he snatched up the man's sub-machinegun and pushed it into Mana's arms.

"H&K MP5SD-N," she reported. "A little too nice for some religious nutters, don't you think?"

"I think these guys are just hired help," Shinji stated as he searched the man and came up with a suppressed .22. "Oh, yeah. Same guys who tried to ice me." He walked to the door and wedged the pistol into the handle.

"Don't you want that?" Mana asked.

"Already have one," Shinji stated as he retrieved his briefcase. He unbuttoned the few buttons on his polo and pulled it over his head.

"Paranoid, aren't you?" Mana asked as she eyed the skin-tight, black utility shirt Shinji wore.

"You could say that," Shinji stated as he checked the slant pockets on his chest and found that everything was in its right place. He grabbed his briefcase and opened it to reveal a compact TDI Vector .45-caliber sub-machinegun. He quickly loaded the weapon with a big, thirty-round magazine and unfolded its stock and foreword assault grip.

"Nice," Mana commented. "I've always heard good things about that model, but I never got to try it."

"Everything you've heard is true," Shinji stated. "Plus it feeds off the same mags as my Glock, big brownie points there."

"This is all very interesting," Misato interrupted, "but is that normal?" Shinji glanced at the man he had killed and watched his leg kick.

"It happens," he stated with a shrug.

"Especially when you bash their head in," Mana added. "So, my car?"

"We'll cover and Misato will check for bombs."

"I'll what?" Misato shrieked.

"You two cover, I'll check for bombs," Mana corrected as she pushed the MP5 into Misato's hands.

"I don't know how to use one of these!" Misato protested.

"Point and shoot," Shinji reassured her. The door rattled and Shinji brought up his Kriss.

"Hold," Mana hissed. "It could just be a chef. . ." she trailed off as somebody blew a hole in the door knob with what was, in all probability, a shotgun. Shinji lay on the trigger and put a ten-round line across the door at about chest height. After a second of contemplation, he put another line about waist high before reloading.

"Chefs?" he asked.

"Shut up and run," Mana stated as she pulled off her suit jacket and wrapped it around her waist. She quickly stuck her magazines into her pockets and Shinji gave her four more that she put into the pouches she wore. "I'm on point."

"I'm on point," Shinji corrected as he drew his stiletto in his left hand and used his top two fingers to grip his weapon's foreword vertical grip.

"You dogs and your knives."

"It works," Shinji protested as he shouldered his weapon and moved to the end of the alleyway.

"You really think that going out there with full gear is a good idea?" Mana pressed as she stacked up on him and rested her hand on her shoulder.

"No, but it's my preferred method," Shinji answered.

"You're enjoying this," Misato accused suddenly.

"Of course," Shinji replied. "I feel so alive right now, don't you?" She stared at him uncomprehendingly and Shinji nudged her to get her moving. 'How could Kaji give this up?' he wondered. 'I'll never fly a desk like him.' Mana squeezed his arm and he moved out of the alleyway quickly towards where they had parked.

(:ii:)

Kaji whistled pointlessly as he made his way through the twisting halls of the NERV Germany facility. A little digging had told him much of what he needed to know. It had also brought him to this place. He paused and read one of the signs on the wall as a pair of security guards walked by. "Take your second right," the voice in his ear whispered.

"Hmm," he hummed as he followed his guide's directions. He found himself in front of a door with rather strict looking warnings posted about it. Without a moment of hesitation, he reached for the I.D. card dangling from its spool on his belt. He swept it and pressed his thumb against the lock's biometric reader. The door opened and Kaji walked in. The door hissed shut behind him.

"Forget something, Frank?" Kaji reached for his pistol even as the speaker turned to look at him. The suppressed Walther .380 popped a little louder than Kaji liked, but the heavy projectile hit the man in the center of his forehead and sent his brains splattering across the back wall.

"Doctor Franz!" Kaji pivoted and fired twice, the twin rounds pounding into the young lab tech dead between her shoulder blades as she tried to run. She hit the ground harshly and Kaji quickly put another round in her head.

"I'm here," he stated aloud.

"Good," his guide stated. "There's a computer console to your left." Kaji moved to the computer.

"Got it."

"Type in this sequence." Kaji typed in the string of numbers and letters exactly as he was instructed. He punched the enter button and the lights in the room beyond came on, revealing one of the oddest things Kaji had ever seen. And with all the strange shit he had seen in his life, that was saying something.

"Huh," he muttered. "I guess I've seen just everything now." Hundreds of pairs of red eyes turned on him and sent a shiver down his spine. "Now that's creepy."

"What?"

"They're looking at me," Kaji stated. "I didn't think they would look, I mean, they don't have souls or sentience, right?"

"They are responding to new stimuli," the guide stated. "They aren't sentient."

"Makes this easier," Kaji commented as he began typing in a new string that he had committed to memory. He hit the enter button and watched placidly as the hundreds of bodies in front of him dissolved. "Weird."

"What?"

"They all look just like she did," Kaji stated. "They haven't aged at all."

"It's a new crop," the guide stated. "After Akagi destroyed the last crop, they had to start all over. These ones have only been growing for about twelve years or so."

"Ah," Kaji replied. "Have you located the alpha yet?"

"Working on it," the guide stated. "It was hard enough finding the betas. Now get out of there."

"Right." Kaji made his way to the door. "So, how about going out to dinner with me to celebrate our victory?"

"In your dreams lover boy," the guide stated. Kaji chuckled and pushed a new clip into his Walther, just in case, before holstered his weapon.

"Find the alpha. We need to get rid of her too."

"Working on it," the guide repeated.

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. Another chapter down folks. College is starting soon, but I doubt it'll hurt my weekly updates. I've even got a few stories I'm working on that I haven't posted yet, including my first romance! Yeah. That one isn't coming out for a while if ever.

I'm still loving MSG-4. You'll never guess which award I'm chasing. It's the crocodile! You have to kill 400 or more. What? You say you saw that coming from a continent away?


	11. Chapter 10

I don't own anything.

Company of Wolves

-Chapter Ten:

"Hurry please," Shinji ordered as he tried to watch the entrance of the restaurant and the alleyway at the same time.

"Patience is a virtue," Mana replied from under her car. "At least, it is when missing something can lead to your rather messy demise."

"Why haven't they shown up yet?" Misato asked, she was sweating rather profusely and her quick movements had all the earmarks of someone tweaking on a combat high.

"If you found your buddy with his head bashed in by the guy you were chasing, you'd probably reevaluate your tactics too," Shinji stated.

"We're clean!" Mana announced as she squirmed out from under the car and shoved her keys into Misato's hands. "You drive stunt man."

"I'm not that bad!" Misato protested. "Besides, I'm not familiar with this thing. It's huge."

"Its classic American muscle," Mana corrected as took the MP5. "You can drive manual, can't you?"

"Of course," Misato stated as she climbed behind the steering wheel somewhat uncertainly. Shinji and Mana quickly piled into the back. The convertible's massive engine roared to life.

"I've been meaning to ask," Shinji stated, "where the hell did you find a '65 GTO in Japan?" When no answer came he glanced at the woman beside him as saw her staring at him in shock. "What?"

"You recognized my car," she whispered almost reverently.

"Well, yeah," Shinji answered. "It's pretty hard to mistake a beautiful First Gen for one of those post-Seventies models or those horrible new millennium models. Tell me, did you at least replace the standard brakes? Those drums with the organic linings always made me nervous at high speed. At least it sounds like you haven't done anything too ridiculous to the engine like some people who were trying to get better emissions and mileage. This is the Tri-Power engine, isn't it?"

"You have no idea how turned on I am at the moment."

"Keep it in your pants," Misato ordered as she hit the gas and the massive American muscle car roared into traffic. "Looks like they aren't going to follow us."

"I don't know," Shinji replied as he dug out his cell phone. "Did you allow Misha to go back to school yet?"

"Not yet," Misato stated, "but she is allowed out of the Geo-Front with a full Section-2 guard detail. We figured she'd be safe if she didn't have a schedule."

"Didn't have a schedule?" Shinji repeated. "Do you know that girl? She's gonna head right for the departments stores the moment you turn her loose." He flipped open his phone and began dialing.

"Who are you calling?" Mana asked.

"Misha," Shinji stated. "She's more competent than those idiots trying to protect her."

"Better make it quick," Mana commented. Shinji glanced at her and she pointed behind them. He shot a look over his shoulder and saw a large black van charging through traffic towards them.

"Uh, Misato? You might want to go faster."

"I can do faster," Misato replied.

(:ii:)

Mana watched as her lover flipped his phone shut and tucked it into his pocket. "Is she okay?"

"She's in the Geo-Front," Shinji stated. "You wouldn't happen to have anything here that can take out a van, would you?"

"No."

"Damn it." Shinji checked his Kriss carefully.

"Just a thought," Misato began, "what if the van is Section-2?"

"Than I'm going to shoot them anyway," Shinji stated. He stared hard at the van and someone popped out of the passenger side window. That someone had a pistol. Shinji raised his Kriss and put a double tap in the man's chest. He went limp and slid out of the window before his friends could react. "Bull's eye! Twenty points mother fucker!"

"There's something wrong with you," Misato called.

"Says the woman who used to guess how many points it would be if she hit different people with her car," Shinji shot back.

"But, I never actually hit anyone!" Misato protested.

"Well obviously, you weren't good enough," Shinji stated flatly. "Mana, you got anything that punches harder than a .45?"

"Sorry, I didn't think to bring my God damned RPG," Mana stated sarcastically.

"Why not?" Shinji asked.

"That was sarcasm," Mana pointed out.

"I figured, but seriously, why wouldn't you have an RPG in your car?" Shinji demanded. He raised his sub-machinegun and fired another burst, this time at the windshield. The glass starred wildly, but didn't break. "Fuck. Please tell me that the MP5 has armor piercing rounds."

"Hell no," Mana retorted. "I've got a mag full of hollow points."

"Shit." Shinji growled. He frowned and dug something out of his pocket.

"What's that?"

"Bluetooth," Shinji stated. "I've got a call to take."

"You're going to take a call at a time like this?" Misato demanded. "Is that normal?"

"There isn't a damn thing normal about his entire company," Mana stated. A bullet whizzed over her head and she ducked.

"Taking pot shots at my company again?" Shinji asked. He lined up his weapon and fired another burst. "Fucking run flat tires."

(:ii:)

"Shinji Ikari speaking, how may I help you?"

"Hey it's me," Kaji stated.

"Hey Ka. . .uh. . .Kevin."

"Kevin?" Kaji repeated. "Thank you for reminding me why we usually send you into places where the only quick thinking you have to do involves violence."

"Fuck you old man!" Shinji snapped. "I never had to fake my own death to get out of a tight spot."

"No, because you usually leave places in such chaos that you can slip out pretty easily," Kaji replied. There was silence for several seconds.

"You are implying that I constantly start wars," Shinji stated, sounding surprisingly calm. "I never thought you would stoop to their level."

"Anymore, that's not so much a joke," Kaji commented. "What's that sound? Is that gunfire?"

"No that's not gunfire!" Shinji yelled. "I haven't caused any problems since I got to Tokyo-3."

"Didn't somebody try to kill you already?"

"That's one," Shinji stated, "and he tried to kill me first."

"You killed Ritsuko," Kaji added calmly.

"That's two and that one needed to happen too. Now what the hell do you need? I'm busy."

"Doing what?" Kaji asked. "You're staying away from the Jäger chick, right?"

"Of course I'm staying away from her," Shinji stated. Kaji frowned as he heard a woman yelling something from the other end of the line.

"Who's that?"

"That's. . .Misato," Shinji stated.

"And that's an automatic weapon," Kaji stated as he heard another serious of explosive bangs.

"You're just going senile," Shinji stated. "That's a jackhammer, not a gun."

"I'm not even twenty years older than you!" Kaji snapped.

"You have gotten a couple of decent bangs to the head over the years," Shinji commented.

"You're one to talk," Kaji retorted. "Anyway, shit's going down pretty quick on this end. I'd don't even see why I need to tell you this, but we're going to need NERV dismantled. There's an organization in the area that I want you to get into contact with."

"Name of organization?"

"The Brotherhood of Saint Michael," Kaji stated.

"What?"

"The Brotherhood of Saint Michael," Kaji repeated.

"Why does that sound familiar?" Shinji wondered. Kaji winced slightly. He wasn't going to like this. "Wait! They're the assholes who are trying to kill me!"

"Well, you and all the other people involved with the Evas," Kaji corrected. "Anyway, they've given up on the odd hitman or two and have sent a mercenary assault team."

"Anybody we know?" Shinji asked hopefully.

"No, they're all freelance," Kaji answered, "but that's not necessarily a bad thing. These guys don't give a shit about the cause, just the job. Get in touch with them."

"I'm gonna need a lot of explosives." Kaji sighed and massaged his temples. That did not sound good.

"Try not to level the city before Janet approves."

"Right." There was a long pause. "I'll think about that. Thanks Ka-Kevin. I'll talk to you later." The phone went dead and Kaji considered the small device. There was something going down in Tokyo-3. Someone knocked on Kaji's door.

"Come in!" The door opened and Janet stuck her head in.

"Did you call Shinji?"

"Yeah," Kaji stated.

"And?" Janet pressed. Kaji sighed in defeat.

"It sounds like he's already started," he admitted in defeat.

"I win," Janet stated. She sat on Kaji's desk. "I can't believe you actually thought he could make it through this entire job without causing trouble."

"Well, it took him over a week for the situation to devolve into violence," Kaji protested weakly. "That's something, right?"

"Not enough," Janet replied. "He is never going near a peaceful zone again."

(:ii:)

Shinji stared at his cell phone in disbelief. "Who was that?" Mana asked.

"Kevin," Shinji stated blankly.

"Any particular reason you were lying to him?" Mana pressed.

"Because he needed to be lied to," Shinji replied. "It's rude to listen to other people's conversations, you know?"

"True, but it's also rude to lie to people," Mana countered. "It looks like they're falling back." Shinji glanced back and saw that the van was indeed pulling back.

"We should go after them," he stated. If those clowns showed up at the Brotherhood base, flapping their gums about how he had killed several of them, it would make negotiations rather difficult later.

"Shinji," Mana began slowly, "they're in a heavily armored van. We only have sub-machineguns. I think we should go somewhere safe and think up a real plan."

"We have them on the run," Shinji stated. "We should pursue and finish them off."

"See, that's not a real plan," Mana replied. "That's a half-cocked plan that usually ends with everyone dying, so I'm really not in favor of that one."

"Second," Misato stated. Shinji frowned and collapsed back into his seat with a sigh of annoyance.

"Fine." This was going to complicate things later. Mana stuck her MP5 down by her feet and reclined in her seat. After a moment of silence among the three of them, she began to laugh. Shinji stared at her for a moment before he too began to laugh.

"What the hell is so funny?" Misato demanded. "We could have been killed!"

"But we weren't," Mana stated. She reached over suddenly and grabbed Shinji by the back of his head. "Come here stud." Shinji was all too happy to oblige as she mashed her lips up against his roughly.

"For crying out loud," Misato complained from the driver seat. "Can't you two wait and do that later?"

"Might not be a later," Shinji replied during a break for air before turning back to his other female companion.

(:ii:)

Asuka sighed in relief as she saw Mana's familiar car pull out of the car elevator. The massive convertible rumbled over to her and pulled to a stop. "Hey Red," Shinji stated. Asuka decided not to mention the fresh looking hickey on his neck. "Is Misha safe?"

"She's fine," Asuka answered.

"Good."

"You know, you seem to attract ambushes like lint," Asuka stated, quickly hiding her joy at seeing her friends alive.

"I have friends who would agree with you," Shinji replied as he climbed out of the convertible, a tan sub-machinegun dangling loosely in one hand.

"They'd agree with me because I'm right," Asuka stated.

"She has a point," Mana added as she followed the dark haired man. Asuka eyed the pairs' automatic weapons as their hands clasped.

"Guess I don't have to worry about you two."

"No, we can take care of ourselves," Shinji replied, "although, there is a problem with the fact that you ordered our weapons to be taken."

"I did?" Asuka asked. She raised an eyebrow at the well-armed pair. "Didn't do anything, I see. Let me guess, it was Section-2, right?" Shinji nodded. "They must have snuck that one onto my desk."

"I would hope so," Shinji stated, "otherwise it would seem that you're trying to get rid of us."

"At the rate you're going, I think you're going to get rid of yourself," Asuka replied.

"I've had bigger and better-armed organizations trying to kill me," Shinji replied with a shrug.

"The UN?" Mana ventured quietly. Shinji shot her an annoyed look.

"I told you, I'm legitimate. I work for the UN."

"Sure," Mana replied. "We're still going to have to talk about that."

"I'm a good guy," Shinji protested. "Tell her Misato!"

"With a strait face?" Misato asked. Shinji frowned and turned to Asuka.

"Don't look at me," she replied. "I'm still too pissed at you for my dress to lie for you."

"What'd you do to her dress?" Misato asked.

"Nothing," Shinji stated quickly, elbowing Asuka in the ribs. "Well, nothing I wasn't paid to do."

"Huh?"

"Nothing," Asuka replied with a forced grin as she elbowed Shinji in the ribs.

"Jesus Christ, this is just like when I used to come home and find something broken," Misato groused. "Forget it. I need to go check on something."

"I'm going to go kill a Section-2 agent every five minutes until I get my pistol back," Shinji stated. "Make an announcement about that for me, would you? I'd hate to have to kill them all; it removes cannon fodder between me and the guys trying to kill me." With that he cocked his sub-machinegun and walked away.

"He's joking, right?" Asuka asked.

"About which part," Mana asked, "him killing Section-2 agents or not wanting to actually kill them all?"

"The first I guess," Asuka stated.

"I doubt it," Mana stated. "Sounds like a good idea to me." She cocked her own weapon. "I want my 36 back too." Asuka watched the second contractor walk away.

"There's something wrong with those two."

"I don't know," Misato replied, "that sounds like a good idea to me. I'd probably do the same thing if you tried to take my USP while people were trying to kill me."

(:ii:)

Misato frowned as she walked into the Tokyo-3 coroner's office and made her way towards the man sitting behind the room's only desk. "Doctor Tonkawa?"

"One moment," the man replied without looking up. He finished the form he had been filling out and finally glanced up at her. "Can I help you?"

"I'm Misato Katsuragi," Misato replied.

"Ah, yes, of NERV," the man replied as he rose to his feet. "Your compatriots were already in here. Did they miss anything?"

"This is personal," Misato stated. "I'm. . .was Ritsuko's best friend. I'm here to fill out the paperwork about where her body will be released to."

"Friend?" Tonkawa asked. "She didn't have any family in the area?"

"She doesn't have any family at all," Misato stated as she dug out the papers Ritsuko's lawyer had given her and handed them to the man. He glanced them over and nodded to himself.

"Such a shame," he commented quietly. "Hmm, a western style funeral home for cremation. Very well, I'll get the forms you'll need to fill out." He walked to filing cabinet and began to go through it.

"Do you mind if I see her?" Misato asked. He glanced over his shoulder at her in surprise.

"Wouldn't you prefer to wait for the viewing?" he asked. "I'm a coroner, not a mortician, so I must warn you that she isn't at her best."

"There isn't going to be a viewing," Misato stated. "We both decided that we wouldn't bother with that back when we were in college. We thought that we had already been through too many."

"We all felt that way, I suppose," Tonkawa replied, "I guess it won't be a problem. Follow me please." Misato nodded her thanks and followed the man out of office and through the noisy hallways of the Tokyo-3 police department towards the morgue. He pushed the door open and led her inside. Ritsuko's body was on a gurney against the far wall with a sheet draped over her. Tonkawa pulled the sheet down and stepped back. "Would you like me to step outside?"

"No, it's fine," Misato replied as she stared down at her oldest friend's face. The blond actually looked peaceful for once in her life. "And you always said I'd be the next to go." Ritsuko would have understood the last jab. If their roles had been switched, the blond certainly would have done the same. Misato glanced up at the doctor. "Did she suffer?"

"No," Tonkawa stated as he read the clipboard hanging from the gurney. "She died of a single knife wound that pierced her heart. Her blood pressure would have dropped as she hemorrhaged and she'd have blacked out very quickly." Misato stared at him.

"Do they have any details?"

"Yes," Tonkawa stated. "It's an ongoing investigation, but. . ."

". . .but I'm a high-ranking NERV officer and NERV is conducting a parallel investigation with the full cooperation of the Tokyo-3 PD. Your ass is covered Doc."

"Always make sure that's true," Tonkawa stated. "She was caught completely by surprise. There are no signs of a struggle."

"Or she knew her attacker," Misato replied. She had no idea where she was going with that line of thinking, but something was eating at her.

"Unlikely," the doctor replied. He gestured towards another covered gurney. "The investigators feel quite sure that this man is her attacker, though the evidence is mostly circumstantial and his own fate has caused some doubt." Misato pulled back the second sheet. The man looked about thirty, Caucasian and very clean cut.

"A British national, though I doubt that has anything to do with it" Tonkawa stated, "formerly of Her Majesty's Royal Marines Commando and a veteran of several low-intensity conflicts. He died from a single shot to the back of the head. The entry hole in his skull suggests a .45-caliber weapon and the lack of a projectile or exit wound and the gratuitous damage to the brain suggests a frangible round."

"Shot to the back of the head sounds like an execution," Misato commented.

"Executions are normally point blank. This shot was taken at some range and at the same level as his head. The bruising on his face suggests that he fell from approximately six feet, about his own height, so it's likely that he was standing when he was shot."

"And the weapon that killed Ritsuko?" Misato pressed.

"A double-edged stiletto at most six inches in length," Tonkawa stated. "A weapon matching those statistics and covered in Miss Akagi's blood was found in a sheath on his belt. The type of weapon certainly lends credence to this not being random. That kind of knife is, more-or-less, only a weapon. Random attacks or muggings with a knife usually involve either a kitchen or utility knife. The style of execution is certainly professional. Such a precise strike would take years of training and experience. Such an accomplishment is, thankfully, rather rare. Though, I suppose, as a Royal Marine Commando, this man might certainly have that kind of experience."

"He probably wouldn't have been easy to get the drop on," Misato commented.

"Quite," Tonkawa stated. "He was taken by surprise as well. There are no recent signs of struggle on his body except for the damage to his face from the impact with the ground and, in my experiences, Marines of any nation tend not to be the 'go quietly into that good night'-type of individuals. He would have fought tooth and nail if he had known he was about to die. I hope that helps NERV's investigation."

"I'm sure it will," Misato replied as she cast one last look at Ritsuko. "Thank you Doctor."

"My pleasure," the man replied as he covered the two corpses up again. "If you'll come up to my office, I can give you those forms." Misato nodded absently and walked out of the morgue pondering these revelations. Something wasn't sitting right, something about how the doctor had explained Ritsuko's deathblow. She had heard that description of events before, but where? The answer made her freeze in her tracks.

"Shinji."

"What?" Doctor Tonkawa asked.

"Nothing," Misato replied. So what, her mind demanded. Shinji was an expert with a knife, so? He was a professional soldier, just like the dead Marine on the gurney. Lots of special operations guys were good with a knife. The head of Section-2, an Australian SAS officer, kept a throwing knife target of the former Commander Ikari on his office wall. It didn't have to mean anything, so why wouldn't the idea of Shinji killing Ritsuko leave her alone?

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. So, no new Angel Eyes. I'm a tad stuck on it, damn romance. I think it might be on hiatus for a little while. You know, finishing this story, I realized that I had left a fairly significant cliff-hanger. Wow. Dick move, but hey, I'm a dick so that's fair. You know, I've got to get off this serious kick I've been on. It's really harshing my inner whimsical sociopath. I must keep him appeased. The world is a better place for it, trust me.

Okay, now for a good old fashioned rant. I know I'm going to draw flack for this one because this week's rant is. . .RELIGION. Buckle up kiddies. This is going to be a wild ride, oh, and feel free to tell me I'm going to hell. I've heard it before. And one more thing, when I say "God" here, I mean any higher power from any religion.

Now, how to kick this off? How about this, I don't like religion. Oh, sure, the idea behind most religions is nice. Don't steal, don't lie, don't harm your fellow man and you'll be rewarded when you die. That's all well and good I suppose, but what I hate is how people use religion. I have yet to hear a tyrant of any shape or form declare that their God wasn't on his side.

Let's face it, just about every major bad thing, and I'm mostly talking wars and genocide here, that has happened has been justified by someone as being some deity's work. Colonial soldiers wipe out a native population? They're doing God's work. A religious organization kills hundreds of thousands of individuals from another organization? They're doing God's work. People have been using the excuse that they're doing God's work to take away any blame to themselves since the dawn of time.

I say, until God or whoever comes down to Earth and flat out tells the population what he wants done, anybody claiming to do God's work by hurting someone else can go fuck themselves.

Alright, there's my opening. Depending on what you guys think, I'll add more next week.

You know, a couple of my friends have told me that I should start a forum so that I can get some good debates going. I would, if it weren't for the fact that, eventually, it would devolve into a bunch of posts by anonymous people telling me that I'm a very bad person in various ways.

P.S. She had a boyfriend.


	12. Chapter 11

I don't own anything.

Company of Wolves

-Chapter Eleven

Misato frowned as she looked around the corridors of NERV. She was pretty sure that this was where she had been told she could find Mana. Then again, she was getting surer and surer that she was lost again. "Mana!" Misato sighed in relief as she spotted the redhead and quickly moved to walk beside her.

"Oh, hey Misato," Mana returned. "Me and Shinji got our pistols back. Asuka gave Section-2 a call and we didn't even have to threaten anyone."

"You did anyway, didn't you?" Misato asked.

"Of course," Mana replied. "Did you get done what you needed to get done?"

"Yeah," Misato answered. "Where did Shinji get to?"

"He said he had some work to do," Mana replied. She was silent for a moment. "Work," she repeated. "Guess I should be on the lookout for any mysterious deaths." Misato frowned at that.

"Mind if I ask you a couple questions?" she asked as they stopped in front of a few vending machines.

"Go ahead," Mana answered as she dug into her pockets and pulled out a few crumbled bills. "You know, when they told me I was going to be investigating a UN base, I thought I'd actually be able to eat right on a job for once."

"I've had to survive off these things a few times myself," Misato stated as she patted the vending machine affectionately.

"Doesn't mean it's healthy," Mana countered. She managed to amass enough junk food to equate to a meal and sat down on one of the nearby benches. "So, what are those questions?"

"I want to ask you about Shinji's company," Misato stated as she sat down. Mana hesitated, her bottle of juice halfway to her lips.

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything." Mana sipped her juice and opened a bag of chips.

"Lupo Cattivo Limited," she began, "a UN recognized PMC. They specialize mostly in training, but there is a small sub-group that carries out black operations when requested."

"Cut the shit," Misato ordered. Mana chuckled humorlessly.

"Lupo Cattivo," she said again, "the Bad Wolves. Individual contractors sometimes refer to their parent company as the pack and almost everyone just calls them wolves or dogs. The names suit them, the animals. Officially, they're working for the good guys. Unofficially, they have their own game that they're playing. The UN has investigated them several times following leads provided by other PMCs. They never found anything and Lupo Cattivo managed to come out of it with an even securer reputation and minus a few enemies. For all their sins, they are good. Make no mistake about it, going up against them is going up against some of the best and brightest soldiers in the world."

"Who are they?" Misato asked.

"The contractors themselves?" Mana asked. Misato nodded. "Most of them seem like the usual bunch; a mix of military operators, grunts, specialists and others. A second look would reveal an unusually high number of disillusioned and disgraced soldiers. A lot of them have either general discharges under other than honorable conditions or flat out dishonorable discharges. Lupo Cattivo's PR department has simply stated that they feel these men were simply lacking proper motivation in their respective national armies."

"What do you think?" Misato asked.

"They want the bad eggs," Mana stated. "Every single contractor in that company is hand picked. Lupo Cattivo doesn't accept application. All new employees are brought in by an existing employee and those existing employees don't easily impress."

"Is that why the other PMCs don't trust them?" Misato asked.

"Of course not," Mana stated. "We know anybody can have a burn out and get kicked out of the military. Just having a bad record doesn't make you a bad person. We don't trust them because we know the truth. We've seen them in the field and they weren't working with us. Besides the general distrust, Lupo Cattivo employees are known for going native. They pick up local customs, dress and dialect faster than anyone else. They're also infamous for knives and their own integrated style of CQB armed and unarmed combat. All Lupo Cattivo contractors carry two or three knives, some carry more. No one knows why exactly. It almost seems funny at first, like they think they're Rambo or ninja commandos or something. It's a lot less funny after you see them use those knives and that combat system. They're good with them. Really good. Their PR department has praised the system for giving them a non-lethal option, but anyone who's actually seen it in action agrees that it's not for crowd control. It's for taking down armed and trained individuals silently and fatally, individuals such as opposing contractors and soldiers."

"Why knives?" Misato asked.

"A knife has a vibe completely different from a gun," Mana explained. "A man casually holding a knife is scarier than a man casually holding a gun. If you'll remember, the world used to be a lot more dangerous. We're all decedents of people who either were good with knives or knew to fear knives. They've been with us for a long time. Probably, the first monkey who killed another monkey using something other than his hands or something he picked up, used a knife." Mana stared off in the distance slightly. "I've seen them use those knives. It's something you won't forget. I'll also never forget the first time I saw a Lupo Cattivo contractor in the field."

"What happened?" Misato asked. Mana sighed and finished her chips.

"It was my second operation in the field for my company and my first in that theatre," she stated after a moment. "I'm technically not a combat operative, but I do have some trigger time. That landed me an assignment working on a UN peacekeeper base in the Middle East. The base was in some pretty hostile territory." Mana finished her juice and tossed it into the trash with her empty bag of chips. "I was with my mentor and a few of the base's logistics folks. It was late, or rather, it was early. I think it was a little after three in the morning. We were in a temporary structure, nothing but a big reinforced plywood box with sandbags stacked everywhere. We never saw it coming.

"I never knew my mentor was a real vet, ex-spec ops. I always thought of him as a big, lazy type of guy who stuttered. When the door burst in, he grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and flung me under a desk. I'd never seen him move so fast. He hit the ground right next to me, two holes in his chest.

"They were good. They cleared the entire room in a flash. I saw a pair of feet walk up to my mentor and prod him in the ribs. He gurgled and threw up some blood so the man shot him point blank in the skull with a suppressed Kalashnikov. Blood went everywhere. I was. . .covered in it. I'd never been so scared in my life. I'd been shot at before, but nothing like this. Before, they had always been kind of indiscriminately spraying rounds before ducking into cover. This was a perfectly executed sweep and clear. The rest of the base didn't even know until someone noticed that the door had been kicked in. By then they had already up and gone.

"I can still remember hearing them talk as they looked for what they had come to get. They were speaking the local dialect, some better than others. One guy even corrected another in English with such a perfect Australian accent that you'd think he was faking. He told the other that he was forgetting to conjugate a verb. He told the man that if he wanted to get far in the pack, he'd better step it up on the languages."

"How do you know they were Lupo Cattivo?" Misato asked quietly.

"Well, they certainly weren't locals," Mana stated. "The man who killed my mentor, he was wearing good desert combat boots. I forget the exact make, but they were expensive ones made by a sneaker company. Everybody who doesn't have strict uniform regulations wears them or their type. They're really popular with contractors. He was also wearing expensive shooting gloves with molded knuckle protectors. The trigger fingers had been cut away and his skin was white. I went into shock so the rest is blurry until they found me the next morning.

"The base commander decided that I was beyond his staff's help, so he decided to medivac me. I was sitting outside near the landing pad when a convoy of three black trucks pulled up. They all had that snarling wolf emblem on the hood and front doors. The men climbed out and walked over to me because the CO was trying to coax answers out of me. I remember them exactly, all wearing the same uniform with the same emblems and carrying the same weapon, tan-painted Kalashnikov's with all the tactical add ons. Their leader stopped in front of us and greeted the CO all polite and formal in German, the CO's native language. He said that they had been doing something secret for the UN and had heard about our misfortune and offered to help if the CO wanted extra protection until the UN mobilized more peacekeepers.

"The CO thanked them and the leader turned to his men and ordered them in English with such a perfect Australian accent that you'd think he was faking to head out on the perimeter. He was wearing expensive shooting gloves with molded knuckle protectors and the trigger fingers cut off. His skin was white. All the contractors nodded and padded away on expensive desert combat boots, Lupo Cattivo standard issue. Of course, I was too jammed full of drugs to comment on it at the time."

"What did the UN say about it?" Misato asked.

"Silly little girl was in shock. She doesn't know what she saw or what she heard," Mana growled. "It was damn nice of those Lupo Cattivo boys to help out. They didn't even ask for any money. They said it was just common courtesy. What professionals they are!" Mana cracked her knuckles and took a deep breath before looking Misato in the eye. "I know what I saw and what I heard. I don't know what Lupo Cattivo wants to do or even if they have an ultimate plan. All I know is, they're working against the UN." Misato found that she completely believed the young redhead without a single doubt in her mind.

"So then, what is Shinji?" Mana scowled and opened a candy bar.

"Damned if I know," she growled. "Stupid bastard can't seem to figure out if he's a nice guy in the wrong crowd or one of the worst of the wrong crowd." She sighed and bit her candy bar. "If I knew he was going to put me through all this when we met, I'd had shot him before I fell for him."

(:ii:)

"Ah, good evening Mister Ikari." Shinji smiled and closed the door to Kozo's office behind him.

"Good evening Commander," he returned. "Have a good day?"

"Rather boring, I must admit," Kozo stated. "I heard that your day was a tad bit more exciting." Shinji had to laugh. That was one way of putting it.

"I guess you could say that," he stated. Kozo chuckled and pushed himself back from his desk.

"Now, what seems to be troubling you?" the older man asked. "My secretary told me that you had said it was urgent."

"Oh, it is," Shinji stated. "Push yourself away from your desk and stand very slowly." Kozo chuckled and did as he was told.

"Here to kill me?" he asked. Shinji growled in annoyance.

"Why does everybody think I'm always looking to start violence?" he demanded. Kozo shrugged and walked around his desk so that he could sit on it. "I'd just like some serious questions answered and I'd like to be able to make sure you aren't hitting a silent alarm while sitting there all friendly and cooperative like."

"Bad experience with that?" Kozo ventured, still looking more amused than anything.

"A couple times," Shinji admitted.

"I see." Kozo held up his arm and Shinji stared at the plain metal bracelet on his wrist. "I'm afraid your job has just gotten a good deal harder. They're using these little toys now instead of an actual button." Shinji glared at the bracelet. He didn't like where this was going.

"Biometrics?" he guessed.

"Yes," Kozo answered. "It measures pulse, respiration, even sweat; anything that would indicate that I'm under duress."

"And the best part, I bet it sounds all the alarms if I destroy it." Kozo nodded apologetically. "Shit."

"So, do you want to check my pulse throughout this little interview, or are you going to trust me?"

"I'll go on a little trust," Shinji stated as he slipped his coat off, "and a little surprise and a lot of firepower if necessary. I'll tell you now though, I react poorly to surprises."

"So did your mother," Kozo commented. "She gave me a black eye once when we tried to spring a surprise birthday party on her."

"No kidding?" Shinji dragged a chair around to face to door and unholstered his Glock. He let the pistol rest in his lap and watched Kozo with his peripheral vision.

"None," Kozo replied. "I don't suppose your father ever actually told you anything about her."

"No, he didn't," Shinji answered. "Hell, I never even saw a picture."

"You could always have asked me," Kozo commented. He reached behind him and picked up a picture frame. He fiddled with it for a moment before extracting the picture inside. "Your mother and I were good friends for a long time and before that I was her college professor." Shinji took the picture with some trepidation. Why was he bothering with this now? He was Shinji Ikari in name only anymore. What did he care about a woman he never really knew? Despite his misgivings, he turned the picture over and stared at it. It showed a young, smiling woman with brown hair in a graduation robe beside an older gray-haired man.

"Did you ever have hair color?"

"Smart ass," Kozo stated. Shinji held the picture out, but Kozo raised his hand. "I have plenty of pictures. Keep it." Shinji stared down at the picture for a while before tucking it into his coat.

"She looks a lot like someone," he commented.

"I would think so," Kozo replied, "after all, Miss Ayanami was a clone of your mother." They sat in silence for a while.

"Great," Shinji replied finally. "I guess we can add Oedipus Complex to my list of neurosis."

"Yes, I found your little crush a tad bit disturbing myself," Kozo commented. "Though, if it makes you feel better, you had about as much in common with her as you would a second or third cousin. That's legal in some countries." Shinji massaged his temples.

"Not helping old man," he stated. He thought about the conversation. "So, if she wasn't a perfect clone, what else was she?"

"I'm surprised you don't already know this," Kozo stated. "She's a clone of Lilith. Your mother's DNA was used mostly to give her a human form."

"I knew about a clone, I just didn't know it was Rei and I didn't know my mother was involved," Shinji stated. Ritsuko had told him that much, though he hadn't bothered to ask who the clone was really. "Where is she, anyway?"

"SEELE took her not long after your father's demise," Kozo stated. "You don't work for them, do you?"

"Well, this job was given to my company by the UN, so technically, I'm their unwitting pawn," Shinji stated. "Why would SEELE want you dead?"

"Because I'm doing everything I can to covertly interfere with their plan to initiate the Third Impact," Kozo stated. "I assume that's actually what you're doing as well, correct?"

"I wouldn't say interfere so much as utterly annihilate," Shinji stated. "My company has dedicated itself to destroying SEELE."

"Good to see that someone else has taken up the cause as well," Kozo stated. "I assume Mister Ryoji is involved somehow, correct?"

"My adoptive father," Shinji replied. "He brought me into the company. Now, how many people here are privy to your plans?"

"Mister Ryoji is alive?" Kozo asked in surprise. "SEELE is usually much more thorough than that."

"They're also more used to eliminating amateurs," Shinji stated. "My company is full of professional survivors. We're much harder to eliminate."

"Oh good," Kozo replied. "I do believe SEELE will test that belief quite thoroughly."

"Wouldn't be the first time they've come for me," Shinji replied with a smirk.

"You're arrogant," Kozo stated, "just like your mother. . .and your father."

"You're starting to test me now," Shinji growled. "I want answers, not stories."

(:ii:)

Shinji cautiously pushed the Commander's door open and peeked out into the hallway, Glock at the ready. "Satisfied?" Kozo asked.

"I suppose," Shinji replied as he holstered his weapon. "Thanks for the insight, Commander."

"Not a problem, Mister Ikari," Kozo stated with his perennial grandfatherly smile. "Just, don't be too harsh on her, for my sake."

"Anger is for amateurs," Shinji stated. "I'm a professional. What I do, I do without impulse."

"Thank you," Kozo stated. Shinji nodded and closed the door behind him. Their conversation had been insightful. It had also updated Shinji's hit list. Now there was one last step to prepare.

"Here's hoping those fuckers in the van crashed and burned to death," Shinji muttered to himself. It was definitely time to rearm. His thoughts turned towards his room. Now what could he pull out of his bag of tricks to help him take on a bunch of well-trained hit men? His pondering rewarded him and even he had to wince at the plan that was forming. It was a tad bit dramatic for him and had a good chance to blowing up in his face. . .literally, but he liked it.

"Hey Shinji."

"Hey Mana," Shinji returned.

"Finished talking with the Commander?" Mana asked. Shinji nodded. "Misato asked me about you." Shinji hesitated.

"What did you tell her?" he asked.

"Everything I knew," Mana replied. "After all, you aren't hiding anything, are you?"

"Of course not," Shinji answered with a smile. Mana studied him carefully before glancing around the hallway.

"You and me are going to find somewhere quiet. . ."

"You want to go again already?" Shinji interrupted, earning a smack for his efforts.

". . .and have a long talk about what's happening in the world," Mana finished without acknowledging his words. . .except for the smack. That was certainly some kind of acknowledgement.

"Say we do," Shinji began. "You know that you are going to despise what you find out. Even if you somehow come around to my perspective, you aren't going to like it. Where does that leave us when this job is over?" Mana stared at him.

"You mean it?" she asked quietly. "When this job is done, you'll leave your pack?"

"For you," Shinji stated and was shocked by the truth of it. He would leave the pack for her. Once this damn job was out of the way, he would tell Kaji that it was the last one. Janet wouldn't make a fuss; she didn't really like him anyway. He had enough money squirreled away, what with his lack of free time to spend it between jobs. Even if she had no money, they'd be pretty damn well off.

"You. . .you. . ." With a squeal she almost leapt at him and seized him around the neck. Shinji laughed and held her tight. "Really?"

"Really," Shinji replied, "just try not to jump on my hit list before then, okay?" Mana laughed and kissed him.

"How about we find that somewhere quiet now?" she asked.

"To talk about what's happened in the world?" Shinji asked teasingly.

"No, the other thing," Mana answered, just as teasingly.

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. Well, with the ending coming, I just needed to get one last major 'explanation' chapter out. From here on in, it's plotting and killing folks.

So, Mana and Shinji. Bets on this ending happily? What's that, no takers? Smart.

Let's see, what to rant about this week? Okay, how about this? I've given up smoking again. Gasp! What's this? Could Mister C. actually care for his health? Does he want to live until he's a senile old man in a nursing home shitting his pants and praying for his children to call? No. My buddy and I made a bet again. He figures he'll get me to crack by upping my no smoking period. Heh. Little does he know. Iron willed baby.

Anway, I haven't smoked in a month. That's right, a month of "clean" Delaware air. I've been hacking up yellow lumps for almost two weeks. Coincidence? I don't think so.


	13. Chapter 12

I don't own anything.

Company of Wolves

-Chapter Twelve:

Shinji jerked awake and looked around. Somebody was pounding on his door. "Make them go away," Mana whined.

"Why do I have to do it?" Shinji demanded. "It's cold."

"So be a gentleman," Mana stated as she tried to push Shinji out of his own bed. Sadly, the bed was a tiny one and she succeeded.

"Ouch! Damn it, that hurt! And I'm cold."

"Then hurry up and get rid of them so you can get back in bed," Mana ordered.

"Lazy bitch," Shinji grumbled as he tried to make it to the door and managed to stub his toe on what felt suspiciously like a pistol. Just to be a dick, he turned the lights on.

"It's bright!" Mana whined as she buried her head under the pillows. "Turn it off." Shinji ignored her and cracked his door open, making sure to use it to hide his nakedness.

"Hi Shinji!"

"Hey Misha," Shinji answered as he held the door more tightly to keep her from pushing her way in.

"I haven't gotten to talk to you in a few days," Misha stated.

"I've been busy," Shinji stated. "How's everything been going?"

"It's been boring," Misha stated. "Can I come in?"

"Turn off the lights!" Mana ordered. Shinji rubbed his temples.

"Your timing could be better," he commented.

"Who is that?" Misha demanded as she once again tried to push the door open. Luckily, Shinji was quite a bit stronger than her.

"That's Mana," Shinji answered. He glanced back and saw Mana sitting up in the bed.

"Maybe you should put pants on when talking to the jailbait," she suggested. Shinji sighed and again held the door where it was as Misha redoubled her efforts to get in.

(:ii:)

"So, Mana, huh?" Misha asked as she sipped her soda.

"Yep, Mana," Shinji answered as he sipped his soda. Misha sighed and tossed her empty bottle in the trash.

"I guess she's better than Misato." Shinji raised an eyebrow. He hadn't been expecting any positive comments, let along an almost compliment.

"Gee, is that your blessing I hear?"

"I guess," Misha stated. "Mana's a nice woman and you are way too old for me."

"Yeah. . .wait. I'm not way too. . ."

"Don't you dare fall for that one, Shinji," Mana ordered as she finished her own soda and tossed the bottle into the trash.

"Bitch," Misha huffed.

"Jailbait," Mana countered. Shinji just sipped his soda. Experience had taught him to stay very much out from between two arguing women, though he could only do it metaphorically since both women had pinned him between themselves.

"Grandma."

"You do know your name is a male name, right?" Shinji winced. Misha was very sensitive about her name.

"I was named by an idiot, alright?" Misha hissed. "I've had to deal with that all my life. My dad was born in America but his family was from Russia. My mom thought a Russian name would be cute and neither figured out that Misha was a boy's name until it was way too late. Tell her Shinji!"

"Oh no!" Shinji snapped, jumping out from between the two women. "You are not involving me in this."

"Don't bother with him," Mana commented. "Shinji Ikari is a survivor first and foremost."

"Like a rat jumping off a sinking ship?" Misha asked.

"Exactly." Shinji sighed and he found both women glaring at him.

"You know what?" he asked. "I have a very important job that needs doing. I'll see you two later." Let it never be said that Shinji Ikari couldn't make an exit, especially a speedy one.

"Like a rat from a sinking ship!" Misha yelled after him. Shinji knew an argument he couldn't win when he saw one and didn't bother breaking step to fire a few words back.

(:ii:)

Shinji growled out a few curses and kept inching up the rope. It had taken him all of forty minutes scouting the port of Tokyo-3 to find the home base of the Brotherhood of Saint Michael.

They were good and had Shinji been a little less skilled, it probably would have taken him a while longer. Unfortunately for them, Shinji was that good.

His first decision was exactly how to make contact. The front door had become a lot less of an option when the wind had blown the guard's coat open to reveal an assault rifle with a folding stock. Deciding that all of the members of the Brotherhood were probably as well armed had left Shinji with the patented covert approach. Sadly, while the covert approach was less likely to get him shot, it was also a lot more strenuous.

Shinji managed to reach the edge of the warehouse's roof and hauled himself up an over onto the roof. He had been coiling the rope behind him so all he had to do was retrieve his folding grappling hook. "Fuck James Bond and his little fucking ascenders."

Shinji slipped into the warehouse and found a dark corner to hide in so he could do a bit more observing. True to Kaji's word, just about everyone had the hard look of a former operator. Well, all but one man. He had the soft look of a pampered, upper class twit and the sound of a religious fanatic. Shinji hated the man on principle.

Luckily, Shinji saw another man. He was definitely a former operator and all of the other men looked to him when the fanatic began to ramble. Shinji decided to talk to that man.

Fortunately the lead operator couldn't stand the fanatic for long and took numerous breaks to get away. Shinji slipped from his hiding spot and followed the man on one of these breaks. He shadowed the man silently for a few minutes before the man ducked into a room. Shinji followed and nearly laughed as he saw the man swallowing a couple of Aspirin.

"You could just shoot him." The man whipped around so violently that several of the white pills flew across the room and hit Shinji.

"Who the hell are you?"

"You don't recognize me?" Shinji asked. The man stared at him for a moment. "You have been trying to kill me, you know?"

"Oh, Shinji Ikari, sorry, didn't recognize you without a gun in your hands."

"I do suppose that our interactions up till this point have been rather hostile," Shinji stated carefully as he sat down. "I'd like to think that we're both professionals and won't allow those interactions to hold sway on this discussion."

"What do you want to discuss?" the man asked as he slowly sat down across from Shinji. They both kept their hands resting on the table top out of common courtesy.

"Our shared goal," Shinji answered with a smile.

"Your messy death?" the man asked.

"Cute," Shinji deadpanned. "I was referring to the destruction of NERV." The man's eyebrows rose.

"You want NERV destroyed?" he demanded. "Why?"

"Do my reasons really matter?" Shinji asked. "All you need to know is that we have a shared goal. With that in mind, it's only logical that we should combine our resources."

"Our resources?" the man asked. "I have manpower, weapons, logistics, and money. What do you have?"

"I have full access to the Geo-Front of course," Shinji answered with a grin. "Interested?"

"Very."

(:ii:)

Shinji strolled out of the warehouse calmly, smiling blankly at one and all. The fanatic began some loud speech about blasphemers, so Shinji shattered his jaw. The operators tensed out of habit, though a few looked like they wanted to cheer. Shinji gave them a mock bow and walked out.

Safely in the streets, he dialed Kaji's number. The man picked up on the second ring. "Shinji?"

"Here," Shinji answered. "I've have an interesting day."

"The Jäger chick?" Kaji asked.

"No, not the Jäger chick," Shinji answered in annoyance. "I am not a slave to my testicles, unlike certain people."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Kaji demanded.

"Nothing," Shinji answered pointedly. "Anyway, I made contact with the Brotherhood. The operators are on board, so we can count on them."

"What about the fanatic watching over them?" Kaji asked.

"I was told that they'd execute him and blame NERV," Shinji asked. "The other fanatics, wherever they are, won't ask questions."

"Good," Kaji stated. "Anything else?"

"Had a little chat with the Commander," Shinji began. "Did you know Rei was kind of my sister?"

"Yeah," Kaji answered. "Didn't want to freak you out."

"Good call. Anyway, Fuyutsuki is the reason SEELE sent me out here. He's been doing everything he can to monkey up their machinations."

"Fuyutsuki?" Kaji repeated in surprise. "Never would have thought the old man had it in him. Cool. Guess we have the boss as our ally. What about the rest?"

"Well, Ritsuko didn't actual know anything about SEELE's current plans," Shinji stated. "However, the scenarios are very similar so I'm still on the moral high ground here. Anyway, Asuka belongs to SEELE."

"She's pushing for their agenda?" Kaji asked. "Never would have guessed that. She always struck me as way too independently minded."

"Fuyutsuki said that she changed pretty radically after her suicide attempt," Shinji stated. He really didn't want to think that his leaving had anything to do with her mental state.

"I see," Kaji replied. "What about Misato?"

"No idea," Shinji answered. "Fuyutsuki seemed pretty sure that she had no idea about SEELE, but just because someone doesn't know about them, doesn't mean they aren't working for them."

"True," Kaji replied quietly. "If we turn the Brotherhood loose in the Geo-Front, you don't think they'll be less than professional, do you?"

"No, they'll be professional," Shinji stated. "These guys really don't give a shit. This is just another freelance job to them. They'll sweep and clear without getting into any messy situations."

"Good," Kaji stated. "What about Misha?"

"What about her?" Shinji asked.

"Nothing." Shinji was quiet for a minute.

"Hey Kaji?"

"Yeah?"

"What would you say if I said that I was going to retire after this job?" Shinji asked.

"You're kidding, right?" Kaji asked.

"I figured that's what you'd say."

"You're being serious." It wasn't a question. "It's the Jäger chick, isn't it?"

"Damn it, it's not the Jäger chick!" Shinji snapped. "Why do you keep assuming that?"

"Because I know you," Kaji stated. "So, what'd she promised you, Shinji? You ditch this job and both go live happily somewhere?"

"Actually, we're planning on finishing this job and then going to live somewhere," Shinji answered. He heard Kaji let out an exasperated sigh.

"I don't like it and I don't like her," he stated. "Experience says that she's working an angle."

"I understand," Shinji commented.

"Do you really think you can just leave the Pack," Kaji asked, "just take off and forget what you are?"

"I don't know," Shinji answered truthfully, "but, I'd really like to try." He heard Kaji take a deep breath.

"I was in your position once," the older man stated. "I told you about it. What if I hadn't been ordered to bring in Fuyutsuki? What if I hadn't had to fake my death? At that time, I would have left all this for Misato."

"I know," Shinji stated. Kaji chuckled suddenly.

"I guess you got what I always wanted," he commented, "a second chance. Well, it's probably good you want to get out. Janet has officially banned you from quiet zones."

"Bitch," Shinji grumbled. "I do not start wars just by my presence! I actually have to work at it."

"What?"

"What?"

"What did you just say?" Kaji asked.

"What?" Shinji asked innocently, silently cursing his slip. "Oh, and send me a team."

"There's already one in country, waiting for your word," Kaji stated. "Give Christine a call."

"Chris?" Shinji asked in surprise. Janet hated when Shinji and Chris were in the same country. "Thanks." He flipped his phone shut and glanced up at the man staring at him not far away. "Look pal, I've been having one of those days. Walk away now."

"Those who hired you want to speak with you," the man stated. Shinji was really tempted to shoot the man and blame the Brotherhood. He considered the pros and cons for a minute.

"Fine."

(:ii:)

Shinji scowled as he looked around the room he had been led into. It was too dark to make out the boundaries, but when he tapped his foot, the echoes didn't return. There was a quiet tone and Shinji was suddenly surrounded by massive monoliths marked 'Sound Only.'

"Mister Ikari," one of the monoliths boomed.

"So, who the hell are you guys?" Shinji asked, deciding to play dumb. After all, he wasn't supposed to know all about SEELE.

"We are the ones who contracted you," one of them boomed. They were using volume to try to intimidate him. Really, it just made them sounds like really loud old farts instead of just old farts.

"I was under the impression that the UN had given this job to my company," Shinji commented, nonplussed.

"We are the UN," another old fart declared.

"A shadowy bunch of old guys who say they run the UN," Shinji replied. "Let me guess, you're the Illuminati." They were silent for a while. "Alright, let's say I believe you. What would have of me, oh shadowy lords and masters?"

"We are disturbed by the lack of reports you have sent back," one of them stated.

"Yeah, well, I kind of figured that you guys didn't want to hear about my escapades in dodging whacked out religious assassins," Shinji stated. "Other than that, I really haven't found much yet."

"Our other assets have found many worrisome discrepancies in NERV."

"Well, your other assets are other people, people who haven't been dodging gunmen," Shinji stated. "Look, if you're all powerful, get these crazy mother fuckers off my ass and I'll get to work."

"They are none of our concern."

"Convenient way of not admitting that you aren't all powerful?" Shinji asked. He could feel them getting aggravated.

"You are our most highly trained operative in the area," someone stated. "You will bring Kozo Fuyutsuki to us."

"I'm not kidnapping anybody for you people," Shinji replied. "I still have no idea who the hell you people are. If you have an additional mission requirement, you talk to my company and they will relay it to me." With that, Shinji turned and walked through one of the monoliths to get to the door. Janet was going to be in for a surprise. Of course, this meant that Shinji now had no real reason not to return to the Geo-Front, where two annoyed women awaited him.

(:ii:)

Shinji peaked down the hallway containing his room and sighed in relief. Neither pushy redhead nor pushy blond were in sight. "Shinji!"

"Gak!" It really did disturb Shinji how Misha sometimes managed to catch him completely by surprise.

"Hey Misha," Shinji stated as he awkwardly patted her. "No rat jokes right now, okay? I've had a long day."

"Alright," Misha replied as she released him. "Mana told me to tell you that she had some business to take care of."

"Alright," Shinji stated. Had the order to kidnap Fuyutsuki been moved to her? He glanced around the hallway and led the young woman to the bench they had previously occupied. "I need to talk to you about something important." Fuyutsuki could wait a minute.

"What's up?"

"Something bad is going to happen," Shinji stated. He reached under his coat and pulled out his old Walther. "You aren't a kid." He reversed the pistol and offered it to her grip first.

"What's happening Shinji?"

"Nothing exact yet," Shinji stated. "Now, don't go thinking that little thing is going to let you go Rambo. If something happens, I want you to go strait to my room and lock the door." He pulled out a spare key and handed it to her. "Check under the bed, there's a backpack there with more ammo and some cash. Wait for everything to get quiet and make a run for it."

"What about you?" Misha asked.

"Oh, I'll be fine."

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. Sorry this is short. I've been really sick and busy. Did you know if you quit smoking you get sick? I quit smoking and boom, coughing up golf-ball sized lumps of yellow shit. So, yeah, Camel is making money off me again.


	14. Chapter 13

*NOTE* Chapter twelve has been rewritten. Read it first. Oh, and I don't own anything.

Company of Wolves

-Chapter Thirteen:

"Good afternoon Commander." Shinji had to give the old man props for not jumping.

"Ah, it is good to see you in such high spirits, Mister Ikari," Kozo replied. "What brings you around to my office today, here for more stories?"

"Actually, I'm here to warn you," Shinji stated. "SEELE just ordered me to bring you in for questioning."

"Am I expendable enough for you to sacrifice?" Kozo asked, still smiling.

"No," Shinji stated. "I stalled for time. They came directly to me. I told them that I don't believe in shadowy organizations and if they wanted me to kidnap you, they'd have to follow the official channels."

"I see," Kozo stated, his smile slipping slightly in shock. "Wow. That must have pissed them off."

"Well, if that didn't, I probably did when I stormed out," Shinji stated. "Anyway, I figured that they might pass the order along to Mana, or. . ."

"Or, they'll go through your company just to put you in your place," Kozo finished. "That's quite clever, Mister Ikari. So, I take it you have a plan for extracting me?"

"We're going to kill you," Shinji stated.

"Like how Mister Ryoji died?" Kozo asked.

"Sort of, only nowhere near as covert," Shinji stated.

"I take it things in general are about to become less covert," Kozo stated. "There must be a way of sparing the people of NERV. Their only fault was unknowingly working for the wrong group of people." Shinji stared at the man. He hadn't even bothered to think about possible collateral damage.

"I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you." Shinji nodded and walked out of the office. He tugged out his phone and quickly surfed through his numbers before finding the right one and hitting send. Chris had been his partner on several jobs before. She was a good woman to have watching his back. Chris picked up before the first ring had ended.

"Hey Lover."

"I heard you were in town, Chris," Shinji commented. "You want to get together and have a little fun?"

"What did you have in mind?" Chris purred.

"Same old same old," Shinji answered.

"Ooh," Chris hummed, "do you think you're up for the same old same old?"

"Have I ever been down?" Shinji asked.

"Of course not. I found this great little bar. Why don't you come join me and we'll discuss the same old same old?"

"Got an address?"

"Why don't you come find me?" Shinji chuckled, same old Chris.

"I'll see you in fifteen minutes."

"See you then Lover."

(:ii:)

Shinji managed to find his quarry in thirteen and a half minutes. He pushed the door to the bar open and saw Chris checking her watch. "Not bad Lover."

"I do believe it's a record," Shinji replied as he sat down next to the woman and ordered a drink. "When did you get into town?"

"Not too long ago," Chris stated. "Kaji thought you could use a little backup on this one, especially since you're bringing in outsiders."

"At his behest," Shinji commented. "Who's here?"

"It's the old gang," Chris stated. "We're the best the Pack can offer. So, same old same old?"

"Same old same old," Shinji confirmed. "First things first, we have a VIP who needs to disappear."

"How elaborate are we talking?" Chris asked.

"Smash and grab," Shinji stated. "We can hang it on the outsiders."

"Sounds like fun," Chris stated. "What else are we going to get up to?"

"Sweep and clear," Shinji stated, "details later."

"I want details now," Chris whined.

"You'll get them later." Chris pouted for a second before her lips curved up into a smirk and she leaned over to rest her head on Shinji's shoulder.

"I bet I could get you to tell me now," she purred into his ear.

"Probably, but my girlfriend might not be too happy," Shinji stated. Chris jerked back as if stung and stared up at him with her big brown eyes.

"Girlfriend? When did you get a girlfriend?"

"It's recent." Shinji's drink arrived and he took a sip. "We're going to have to move that VIP soon, They have other agents they may turn to."

"Oh, no you don't!" Chris announced. "You are not changing the topic that easily, you smooth talking son of a bitch."

"I was merely suggesting that maybe my relationship status could wait until after we save our VIP, who might very well be getting kidnapped right now." Chris glared at him. "What?"

"You could have called and told me you had a girlfriend," she stated. Shinji sighed and sipped his drink. What was with women and relationships? "I'm your best friend. You should be able to talk to me about that kind of stuff."

"Guy friends don't really talk about that kind of stuff," Shinji stated. "Right, Morris?"

"Huh," Morris grunted from where he was sitting on the other side of Chris. "So, she cute?"

"Very," Shinji stated. "Redhead."

"There is just something about redheads," Morris commented and he put back another shot. "And I thought you two were fucking each other."

"Friends with benefits," Chris stated. "Right now I'm emphasizing the friend part. So, is she nice? What does she do for a living? You should invite her out drinking with us." Shinji finished his drink in one go.

"Women," he grumbled.

"Heh," Morris snorted, "wait till you get married. You ain't seen shit yet."

"How is number eight anyway?" Shinji pressed, ignoring Chris as she prattled on with her list of questions about Mana.

"Looking to become the eighth ex-Misses Morris," Morris stated. "Heh, well until she sees the prenups. Stupid bitch. This ain't my first rodeo and she ain't getting a cent out of me."

"Well, I guess there is a reason you're chasing the twits with big tits," Shinji commented.

"Yep!" Chris cut in suddenly. "They're fun to fuck and too stupid to plot your downfall." Shinji and Morris glanced at each other in exasperation. It was always difficult taking Chris to bars, especially when she had a few drinks and started regaling everyone within earshot about her sexual encounters.

"So, you want help writing your prenuptials?"

"Marriage?" Chris demanded. "So soon?" Shinji ignored her as she went off on another rant about rushing things.

"Let's get all of this over first."

"Okay."

(:ii:)

Kaji glanced up as his door slammed open and Janet stormed into his office. Ah, shit. What had he done now? "Shinji is in deep shit." Kaji sighed in relief. He hadn't done anything after all.

"What happened?"

"SEELE just grabbed me and dragged me into a meeting with them," Janet growled.

"That's good," Kaji replied calmly. "They've revealed themselves to you. We can probably look forward to working more directly with them. That'll give us more opportunities." That stopped Janet's upcoming tirade in its tracks. "And what makes you think it was Shinji's fault?"

"It's always Shinji's fault!" Janet snapped. "Apparently, they went to him and ordered him to grab Fuyutsuki. He pretty much told them to fuck off and talk to me."

"Ah," Kaji replied.

"They weren't exactly happy," Janet added. "Give me your phone."

"Why mine?" Kaji asked as he dug out his cell phone.

"If he sees my number, he's going to ignore it and expect me to leave a voice mail," Janet answered as she snatched up the tiny device and began mashing its numbers like she was trying to stick her thumb through them. She waited for a minute and then grinned. "No, this isn't Kaji," she stated sweetly. "It's me." Suddenly her face turned bright red. "No I'm not in bed with him!" Shinji always did know how to make a bad situation worse. "I just spent forty minutes getting yelled at by SEELE! Yes I know this is going to open opportunities for us, not shut the hell up!"

"That's my boy," Kaji mumbled as he leaned back in his seat and watched his boss and current lover getting more and more flustered.

(:ii:)

Shinji closed his phone and stuck it into his pocket. "Well, we have the go ahead."

"Excellent," Chris stated. "When do you want to pull it off?"

"No time like the present," Shinji replied. "I'll go grab Kozo. You two get the team together. We need an abandoned location where we can pull off the ambush."

"I've already been scouting around the docks," Morris stated. "This time of day, nobody's going to be there."

"Good. I'll circle the city a few times to buy you guys some time. How long do you need?"

"Give me two hours," Morris answered. Shinji nodded and climbed to his feet.

"See you guys there."

(:ii:)

Kozo sighed and sipped at the glass of bourbon he had just poured himself. This had been one of those days. He wasn't worried for himself, but he was terrified for his employees. When he had first begun interfering with SEELE's plans, he hadn't even thought about those that worked for him. Non of this way their doing and not they were in danger. "Commander?" Kozo turned and smiled as he found Shinji standing behind him.

"Mister Ryoji had a rather annoying tendency of doing that."

"That's who I learned it from," Shinji stated. He glanced at the bottle of Kozo's desk and quickly found a glass so he could pour himself some.

"You never did explain how Mister Ryoji escaped his fate."

"You'll be able to ask him yourself," Shinji stated as he downed his drink. "It's time to go."

"Very well." Kozo climbed to his feet and pushed the button on his desk that allowed his to slip off his monitor bracelet without alarm. "Where are we going?"

"To SEELE," Shinji replied as they walked out into the hallway. "There's going to be an incident along the way."

"I see," Kozo replied. "No collateral damage I hope."

"Not as planned," Shinji answered. They strolled quietly through the Geo-Front and Kozo smiled as people greeted him. He had made such strides with them. "They seem to like you."

"I do my best to keep them happy," Kozo stated. "A commander should look out for the welfare of his subordinates." Shinji nodded and they stepped out into the underground parking garage. "My last time to walk those halls. You will take care of my people, won't you?"

"I'll do my best," Shinji answered.

"So, who's going to cause this incident?" Kozo asked curiously as the younger man led him to a small coup.

"The Brotherhood and Saint Michael," Shinji answered. Kozo chuckled as he climbed into the car.

"Sounds like something they would do."

"That's the point."

(:ii:)

Chris glanced up and grinned as she saw a small car driving towards them. It slowed to a halt and Shinji climbed out. "Everything ready?"

"Of course!" Chris stated. "What do you take us for, amateurs?"

"Never," Shinji answered. An older man climbed out of the cars as well. "That's Kozo Fuyutsuki."

"Nice to meet you," Chris stated as she took his offered hand. "I'm Chris."

"Just Chris?" the older man asked with a grandfatherly smile.

"Just Chris," Chris confirmed as she led them away from the coup. Morris opened up with his machinegun and the car quickly began to disintegrate. Chris felt bad for the old man as he nearly leapt out of his skin. Maybe she should have warned him.

"Same old story?" Shinji asked.

"Of course," Chris answered. "You were herded by obvious tails. They opened fire on your car, disabling the engine and forcing you to flee. You were ambushed and they attempted to kidnap both of you, but you got away. Kozo, sadly, wasn't so lucky."

"Good," Shinji stated as they walked into an old warehouse. "No teeth."

"Pardon?" Chris asked.

"No teeth," Shinji repeated. "You knock out a single tooth and I'm going to knock out all of yours." Chris grinned as reached into her pocket for a pair of padded gloves.

"It'd be more realistic if you lost a few teeth," she stated. Shinji glared at her. "Okay, okay. No teeth."

"How come he gets the gloves?" Morris asked as he tossed his machinegun into the back of their van. Outside somebody opened up with an RPG and blew the car into tiny bits.

"Because he's got a steel jaw," Chris stated. "Now step back and give me room."

"No teeth," Shinji repeated.

(:ii:)

Asuka jerked awake and looked around wildly for her ringing phone. After a moment of hunting she grabbed the slacks she had worn that day and pulled out the tiny device. "Hello?"

"Hey. It's me." Asuka scowled.

"God damn it, Shinji! I was actually asleep. Do you know how often I actually get to sleep nowadays?"

"Sorry," Shinji answered. Asuka frowned. He didn't sound good.

"Are you alright?"

"Not really," Shinji rasped. "Hey, could you send an ambulance to the docks?"

"An ambulance?" Asuka repeated. "What happened?"

"The Brotherhood ambushed Commander Fuyutsuki and me," Shinji answered. "I'm not sure exactly where I am. Tell them to look for the blown up convertible. I'm somewhere by it." Asuka was hurrying to dress by that point.

"What about the Commander?" she demanded.

"I'm not sure," Shinji replied. "Hey, listen. Tell the paramedics that I don't have any allergies to any medicines. I'm not sure I'll be conscious when they get here." The line ended with an ominous click and Asuka was already heading for the door.

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. Sorry folks, I got nothing to say. That's not to say that I've nothing to complain about, I'm just too tired at the moment to commit it to paper.

Oh, and if you have no idea what's happened in this chapter, do reread chapter twelve like it says to do at the top. It should clear up any problems.


	15. Chapter 14

I don't own anything.

Company of Wolves

-Chapter Fourteen:

Asuka stomped hard on the brakes and her coup fishtailed slightly as it screeched to a halt. She leapt out of her car and froze temporarily as she took in the scene before her. Shinji's car, she assumed it was his car since it was damaged beyond recognition, was a mass of tangled, smoldering metal. A couple of firemen were still spraying it down with one of the hoses from their truck. "Commander!" Asuka jerked from her reverie and turned to see one of her Section-2 agents walking towards her.

"Where is he?" Asuka demanded.

"He's in that warehouse. . ." Asuka was walking past him as soon as he pointed. The man quickly fell into step behind her. "We found evidence of an extended firefight between Mister Ikari and an unknown party."

"Is he okay?" Asuka demanded.

"Yes, but he sustained numerous. . ." Asuka tuned him out as she shoved her way through a gaggle of cops and strode into the warehouse. She found Shinji being transferred to a gurney.

"How is he?"

"He got the shit kicked out of him, but he's going to be fine," one of the paramedics stated. "He was stable when we go here. We're probably going to have to keep him under observation for the night."

"Heh, check this out." The other paramedic held up Shinji's hand. "Looks like he managed to get in a few licks of his own."

(:ii:)

"Well, this is all quite exciting, but where are we going?" Kozo asked.

"You need to be debriefed sir," Morris explained. "One of our company's senior officers is coming in to do it."

"Good," Kozo stated. In the front passenger seat of the car Chris whimpered through the hand clenched over her jaw. "I do suppose that I should mention, he did warn you." Chris whimpered again.

"Quit the pity act," Morris grumbled. "Your jaw ain't broke, just fractured."

"It still hurts like a bitch," Chris mumbled through her hand. "All I did was give him a little love tap."

"You loosened one of his teeth," Morris replied. "That's probably why he only fractured your jaw."

"Meanie," Chris hissed. "You're supposed to feel bad for the girl that got smacked."

"You had it coming," Morris stated calmly. He reached up and touched the Bluetooth headset clipped to his ear. "Morris here." He listened for a moment. "We're on our way." He touched the headset again. "The officer just arrived. We're going to go pick him up."

"Already?" Chris garbled. "Wasn't he back at HQ a couple of hours ago?"

"Super sonic flight," Morris stated. They drove in silence for a while and Kozo recognized that they were heading towards the airport. Morris maneuvered the black sedan through the insane drivers in front of the airport and pulled up to the curb. "There he is." The back door opened and Kozo stared at the man who climbed in beside him. "How was the flight, sir?"

"I have jetlag like a son of a bitch," Kaji Ryoji stated. He turned and smiled brightly at Kozo. "Good evening Commander."

"Ah," Kozo replied blankly, "Mister Ryoji. Forgive my surprise, but I was quite sure you were dead despite what Shinji said."

"I bet you're really curious about that."

"Quite."

(:ii:)

Shinji groaned as sensation returned to him. His jaw was killing him. "Bitch."

"Mister Ikari?" Shinji turned and saw a man in a black suit. "How are you feeling?"

"Nowhere near good enough to play twenty questions," Shinji answered. "Where's my gun?"

"We have it." Shinji stared at the man contemplatively for a moment before grabbing him by his collar and dragging him closer.

"Give it to me."

"Mister. . ."

"Now." The man reached under his suit jacket and produced Shinji's Glock. He took the weapon and checked it, frowning as he noticed that it was empty.

"Please note, it was empty when we got it," the man stated. "Now, how about we play twenty questions?" Shinji scowled and leaned back into his bed.

"My knives?"

"After the questions."

"Fire away."

"What happened?" the man demanded.

"We were being tailed," Shinji stated. "I tried to loose them, but they were herding us. I didn't see it until we were in the warehouse district. I was trying to get out when they opened up on me. The engine went and I dragged the Sub-Commander out of the car. It gets kind of hazy after that."

"Who was it?" the man asked.

"Can't be sure," Shinji stated. "They seemed pretty insistent on getting us alive. That cuts the Brotherhood out unless something has changed."

"Thank you for your input." The man rose and started for the doors.

"My knives?"

"They are with the rest of your effects," the man stated. "After four nurses were cut searching your clothing, they gave up and tossed everything into a bag." With that the man turned and walked out. Shinji sat up again and grabbed the clipboard from the foot of his bed. He flipped through it and winced. There were a lot of fractures. He'd remember that for when it was time to return the favor. The door slid open and Shinji grinned as Mana walked into his room. She was on him in a flash, her arms wrapped around his neck.

"Christ," she gasped, "I was worried sick." Shinji frowned as he felt something wet against the side of his throat. He pushed her back gently and stared at the tears on her face in surprise.

"Why are you crying?"

"Because I was worried about you, you idiot," Mana stated. She was crying because of him?

"Quit it. You're seriously freaking me out."

"Moron." Mana hugged him tight again. It really was freaking him out. Had anybody ever been worried about him to the point of tears? He was pretty sure the answer was no and he found the whole experience unsettling.

"Hey, could you go find my clothes?" Mana pulled back and stared at him through narrowed eyes.

"And where the hell do you think you're going?"

"Out of here," Shinji stated smoothly. "I've got this thing about hospitals."

"Too bad, you're staying here until the doctors say you can leave," Mana ordered.

"I'm fine," Shinji protested, thrusting the clipboard he had been reading into the woman's hands. "See?" She read it quickly and looked up at him suspiciously. "Please?"

"Your puppy eyes are more creepy than cute," she stated finally.

"I don't use them much," Shinji countered. "Please?"

"Fine."

(:ii:)

"Bastard!" Shinji ducked as a fist flew at his face. Overbalanced, Chris tumbled to the floor in an undignified pile.

"I warned you," Shinji stated. "Right, Morris?"

"He did," Morris confirmed as he unlocked the barrel from his machinegun and lifted it away from the weapon.

"Kids," Kaji began in a warning tone. "Try not to destroy our reputation, please."

"I'm not doing anything," Shinji protested. With his focus elsewhere, he didn't see Chris wind her legs around his in order to send him tumbling to the ground. She scrambled atop him and managed to get full mount, but Shinji knew a thing or two and quickly quashed any move she attempted.

"Well, that is quite an interesting position." Shinji glanced up and grinned at Kozo. "I daresay; Miss Kirishima might not approve." Shinji winced at that.

"Kirishima, eh?" Kaji asked. "His girlfriend, right?"

"Right," Kozo replied.

"From Jäger Industries?" Kaji pressed. Chris froze atop Shinji and unwound her arms from his throat where she had been attempting some kind of choke.

"A Huntsman," she stated. Shinji couldn't bring himself to meet her eyes as she climbed off of him.

"Nice job Romeo," Morris commented in his always half-awake manner. "Just remember what happens to Romeo and Juliet in the end." There was an awkward silence and Shinji quickly sat next to Morris and began checking over his Glock.

"So, when did you get here Pops?"

"Couple hours ago," Kaji stated simply. "I've been debriefing Kozo."

"I do believe that you now owe me a story," Kozo commented. Kaji chuckled and moved to the apartment's fridge to retrieve of beer.

"My story or Shinji's?"

"I must admit that I'm quite curious about both," Kozo admitted, "though I suppose you should start at the beginning, so that would be your story Mister Ryoji. How did you escape?"

"I escaped because that's what SEELE wanted," Kaji stated.

"I thought SEELE wanted you dead," Kozo commented.

"SEELE wanted me alive," Kaji stated. "They're the ones who sent me to NERV in the first place. I did what they wanted. Commander Ikari was the man who wanted me dead."

"My mistake then," Kozo replied. "That explains much. If SEELE wants you alive, you will remain alive."

"It also put my company at the top of SEELE's list of go-to men," Kozo stated. "That's why they came to us for this job. Fortunately this job is working to our advantage as well."

"Who do you all work for?" Kozo asked.

"Ourselves," Shinji cut in. "We are fighting for what we believe."

"What do you believe?" Kozo asked.

"That the world should be what it will be," Shinji answered. "Now, if you'll all excuse me, I just swung by to make sure everything went as planned."

"Take these," Morris grunted, thrusting a bag into Shinji's hands. "New one-piece magazines for the Glock and the Kris."

"Do they jam like the standard magazines with an extension?" Shinji pressed.

"No," Morris replied as he ran a patch down his machinegun's bore. "They should also fit the pouches you already have."

"You have my armor," Shinji commented. "I think I'm going to be needing it soon." Morris nodded without bothering to turn his attention away. Shinji grinned to one and all and strode back out of the apartment, tucking the bag under his coat. Mana had not been easy to loose and she was most likely on his trail. That and he couldn't take the way Chris was staring at him.

(:ii:)

Kozo watched his one time student's son meander back out of the room. "What is his story then?"

"Not much of a story," Kaji stated. "He left NERV after Kaworu was killed. You know that much."

"Ah yes, the Seventeenth," Kozo commented quietly. "That was a most unfortunate occurrence. I, for one, was not surprised when Shinji left soon after."

"I found him a few years later," Kaji continued. "He had taken up living on the streets. When I saw him, I knew. He had given up everything. He was almost like an animal. When I first confronted him, there was no recognition. It even took him a while before he really remembered how to speak."

"He seems to have overcome it," Kozo noted.

"Seems that way, doesn't it?" Kaji replied. "It's a lie. He hasn't gotten any better. He can act normal, but that's all it is; an act. Fortunately, it works to our ends."

"So, you're using him?"

"The company is," Kaji answered. "He knows it, but he doesn't care. He's loyal to me and I am loyal to the Pack. Beyond that, he doesn't give a damn. After I met him, I got him back on track and put him to work. This kind of work agrees with him."

"I've noticed," Kozo replied. "Now, the question is, how will you finish your mission without killing my employees?"

"We're working on it," Kaji stated.

(:ii:)

Mana scowled as she looked around the street. Now where the hell had he gotten to? "Boo." Mana yelped and turned to see Shinji behind her.

"You bastard!"

"Totally worth it," Shinji replied with a chuckle.

"Where did you go?" Mana demanded.

"Nowhere," Shinji answered. "I've been following you since you lost sight of me."

"No you weren't," Mana stated. "Nobody follows me without my notice."

"I do," Shinji replied cheerfully as he turned and led her down the road. "I'm good like that."

"I don't care how good you are, no human on Earth can stalk me without my notice," Mana replied firmly.

"Guess that makes me inhuman," Shinji commented.

"Fine, what did I do after I lost sight of you?" Mana demanded.

"You went to that café and ordered a drink," Shinji replied, pointing to the café Mana had gone to. "Couldn't hear what it was, but it was frothy." Mana frowned. Had he really been following her? Nobody had managed to do that to her in a long time.

"That's kind of disturbing," she stated.

"Don't worry," Shinji replied happily. "That doesn't make you bad; it just makes me extremely good." Mana had to give him that. He was good. She followed him silently as he made his way to the café and ordered one coffee and one cappuccino. "Did I get it right?"

"Yes," Mana admitted as she accepted her drink. "I take it this is your way of telling me that you feel fine, right?"

"But of course," Shinji replied cheerfully. "So, what do you want to do now?"

"I can think of a few things," Mana commented. Shinji glanced back at her before cringing suddenly.

"My hip!"

"Don't even start!"

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. I know, most people were probably hoping for Angel Eyes. Sorry.

Anyway, what with no other authors updating, I've been forced to go back and read my own works. That is not a good idea. Every time I reread my old stuff all I see it spelling and grammar mistakes and lots of punch lines that need tweaking. It takes almost all my self control not to try to rewrite them.

I know if I try to rewrite them I'll end up with another SC Evangelion situation. I am actually still working on that by the way, I swear.

One of my major problems is that I don't have the original stories anymore. They've been lost to the sands of time and I have yet to get around to backing them up. I've still got the original SC Evangelion on 3½ floppy, but I no longer have a reader for that format.

Wow, I just realized how fast technology has been moving, or how long I've been writing. All my new stories are on a one gig memory stick smaller than my thumb.


	16. Chapter 15

I don't own anything.

Company of Wolves

-Chapter Fifteen

"Good morning!" Shinji watched in amusement as the man in front of him jumped and nearly dropped the rocket launcher he was carrying. The man spun and stared at him.

"You!"

"Me." The Brotherhood's head operator took a deep breath. "You know, I never caught your name."

"Frank," the man replied. He stared at Shinji for a moment. "What happened to you?"

"You guys," Shinji answered brightly, unconsciously touching the bandages on his knuckles. Frank stared at him for another moment before turning.

"Joey!"

"I didn't do it!" someone yelled back. "The tires were slashed when I got there!" Frank pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Remind me to check my car later."

"Right," Shinji replied. "Anyway, you guys didn't do this, but you did."

"Okay," Frank drawled. "I've worked for the CIA, so it's not the first time I've been made into a scapegoat. Now, what have you got?"

"Don't like working for the evangelical crowd?" Shinji asked.

"I hate it, but their money is good," Frank stated. "I can tell you this, we had no shortage of volunteers to take Old Zeke out back and cap him."

"That watch dog guy that I knocked out?" Shinji asked. Frank nodded. "With a name like that, he didn't have too many choices in life."

"True," the man replied. "Now, what do you have for me?"

"I just came by to tell you that NERV is having a security retrain," Shinji stated. "That will probably be the day to go. Most of the civilian staff will be absent and the security guys will mostly be packing paint." Frank scratched his chin contemplatively.

"I know what you're doing and I want you to know that I respect it," he stated after a moment.

"What am I doing?" Shinji asked curiously.

"You're trying to spare the everyday Joes working from NERV," Frank stated. "I really do respect that and God knows I would if I could, but the money wants blood. They want a massacre and what the money wants, the money gets."

"Alright," Shinji replied blankly.

"Sorry."

"No problem for me," Shinji stated with a shrug. "It's unfortunate, but not a deal breaker."

"Good," Frank stated.

"I'll need to plan for this," Shinji stated. "Have a good day, Frank."

"You too." Shinji frowned as he studied the man's face.

"Questions?"

"I've been looking in to you," Frank stated. "You're on the legal side of this business. Your company is the UN's go-to-guy for a lot of their problems."

"Yes, and?"

"So, why are you working with us?" Frank asked. "Are you rogue or something?"

"Something," Shinji stated. "I'll see you around." Shinji turned and strolled out of the warehouse to where Morris was waiting in his sedan. He climbed into the passenger seat and the old man pulled away.

"What's the deal?"

"They aren't going for the security retrain," Shinji stated. "Their bosses want mountains of corpses."

"Oh well," Morris replied. Shinji nodded absently. "You're going to do something stupid aren't you?"

"Huh?"

"Why are you protecting NERV?" Morris asked. "This isn't like you."

"I'm bored," Shinji stated. "This is a challenge." Shinji's phone buzzed and he dug it out.

"This place is mellowing you." Shinji shot the older man a glare as he flipped his phone open.

"Ikari."

"Hey kiddo," Kaji answered. "I've got good news."

"Shoot."

"The UN just called and after what happened to Kozo, they want a Lupo Cattivo advisory team to check on NERV's security. Chris's team is official now."

"Yeah," Shinji deadpanned. This was not going to be fun.

(:ii:)

"There she is." Shinji glanced up and frowned as he noted Chris and her team waiting for them in the Geo-Front's parking lot. "You don't look thrilled."

"Chris is here," Shinji stated. Morris nodded. "My girlfriend is here, somewhere." Morris winced and pulled them into a parking spot. Shinji climbed out and smiled. "Hey Chris."

"Hey Shinji!" Chris replied. "We're working together now!"

"Yeah." Chris's eyes narrowed.

"You don't sound happy."

"I'm thrilled," Shinji corrected. "Now, if you'll all follow me." Chris stuck by his side, studying him contemplatively.

"Oh! I get it. You think I'm going to embarrass us in front of us new boss!"

"Actually, yeah."

"I'll have you know, I'm a professional," Chris stated. "I don't let my personal feelings get in the way."

"Like in Saudi Arabia?" Shinji asked.

"That guy was a creep!" Chris snapped. "He deserved to be punched in the face."

"That guy was our principle," Morris stated. "We were supposed to protect him."

"We did protect him!" Chris insisted. "He got from A to B to C alive."

"With a fractured jaw," Shinji commented as he led the way to the giant escalators leadings deep into the Geo-Front. "Wasn't that when Goldman said we weren't allowed to play together?"

"Yeah," Morris replied. "Of course, I think your response to our pursuers had more to do with Janet's orders."

"What?" Shinji demanded.

"You shot that vehicle with an RPG," Chris commented.

"But, it was full of bad guys," Shinji stated.

"But, it was an RPG," Chris replied.

"But, it was full of bad guys," Shinji corrected.

"But, it was an RPG," Chris repeated.

"But, it was full of bad guys!"

"But, it was an RPG!"

"Look," Morris growled, "before you two drive me insane; yes, it was full of bad guys and yes it was an RPG. The problem here was, you fired an RPG at an unarmored vehicle. That explosion wrecked a nearby building."

"So? Nobody got hurt." He clapped a hand over Chris's mouth before she could speak. "Nobody I didn't intent to hurt."

"Haven't you ever heard of escalation of force?" Chris demanded after she had shaken his hand loose.

"Yeah, never really gave a shit for it myself," Shinji stated as they reached the bottom of the moving steps. "If you're gonna kill a guy, kill him. Don't wound him and work you way up."

"Shinji!" Shinji turned and smiled as he saw Asuka walking towards him. "Hey, Red."

"So, you're the bitch who stole my Shinji!" Shinji's jaw dropped as he stared at Chris.

"What?" Asuka asked flatly.

"Actually, this is our new boss," Shinji stated. "Everybody, meet Asuka Sohryu, Commander of NERV."

"I fail to see how this is my fault," Chris stated.

"I fail to see how this isn't you fault."

"You told me that your new girlfriend was a redhead!" Chris announced. "I figured, how many redheads could be in Japan?"

"Two that I know of," Shinji stated, "and this one is our boss."

"Shinji!" Shinji winced slightly and turned to smile at Mana.

"This one, is my girlfriend."

"Ah," Chris stated. She suddenly latched on to Shinji's left arm. "So, _you're_ the bitch who stole my Shinji!" Mana promptly grabbed Shinji's right arm.

"Who the hell are you?" she demanded.

"I'm his best friend!"

"Well, I'm his girlfriend!"

(:ii:)

"Good afternoon ma'am."

"Uh. . .good afternoon," Asuka returned as she shook the hand of the man before her. "Does this happen a lot?" The man glanced back at where Shinji was trying to placate both Mana and his female friend.

"You'd be surprised," the man stated blankly without even bothering to glance back. "I'm Morris. We're your Lupo Cattivo team."

"Yeah, I received that memo," Asuka stated. "You guys are here to evaluate our security."

"And provide training to your security teams if necessary," Morris added. Asuka spared the team a glance. They were three women, including the one hanging off Shinji's arm and arguing with Mana, and eight men, all in business casual. Most looked to be in their late twenties or early thirties and none were openly carrying weapons, but that didn't mean much.

"Is there anything I need to do?"

"If you could introduce us to your head of security, we would appreciate it."

"Of course." Asuka glanced at one of the flunkies who were usually nearby.

"I'll take care of it," said flunky stated. Asuka nodded her thanks. She turned back to Morris.

"Try not to be too mean to them. They've been dropping the ball a lot."

"Yeah, I heard," Morris replied. "Shinji gets bitchy when people try to kill him."

"Do not!" Shinji snapped. He had managed to free himself and moved to join them. "Morris, can you handle Section-2? I don't think they like me."

"They have their reasons," Asuka stated.

"Yeah, they're good guys and authority figures," Morris stated. "You get along with neither."

"I get along with the good guys," Shinji protested. "Well. . .I can get along with the good guys, when I need to."

"Shinji!" Asuka had to look away as Misha tackled the ex-pilot around the hips.

"Well, that's three," the redhead noted.

"My record's four," Shinji stated. "What do you say we go meet the guy half-way?"

"You always were good at running away," Morris commented.

"Some things never change," Asuka replied.

(:ii:)

"How long have you been a mercenary, Mister Morris?"

"They're not mercenaries, they're contractors," Misha stated. Shinji chuckled as Morris shot a surprised glance at the younger girl.

"We've had this discussion many time before," he explained.

"I see," Morris stated before looking back to Asuka. "I've been a private military contractor going on twenty years."

"That's a long time," Asuka commented.

"Stick with what you know," Morris stated. "The Army promised to teach me valuable job skills and they did, just not the ones I was expecting."

"What kind of job skills did you expect the army to teach a grunt?" Shinji asked.

"I was seventeen," Morris grumbled. "If there's a better excuse for being an idiot, I've yet to hear it."

"Being fifteen?" Asuka volunteered glancing down at Misha.

"Ha, ha, ha," the blond growled. "You know, you were fifteen once too, long ago."

"Not that long ago," the redhead growled right back.

"Wow, she's cruel," Morris commented. "You've been hanging out with him too long young lady."

"I'm not mean," Shinji protested. "Name one time. . ."

"Sudan."

"I have got to get new friends," Shinji grumbled. "The ones I have are nothing but trouble anymore."

"Commander Sohryu!" The group turned and Shinji spotted the head of Section-2 walking towards them. "Good afternoon."

"Hello Mister Givens," Asuka returned cordially. "This is Mister Morris. He's one of our new security advisors from Lupo Cattivo."

"A pleasure," Givens stated somewhat coldly. Morris didn't appear to notice the other man's tone as he shook his hand. "If there's anything you need, don't be afraid to ask."

"Actually, I was hoping to interview a representative sample of Section-2," Morris stated calmly. "Off duty of course and don't feel obligated to call in anyone not on the premises. I just want to have a quick informal talk."

"I'll get right on it," Givens stated.

"Thank you," Morris replied. "I believe one of the smaller meeting rooms would be sufficient."

"Room two is open," Asuka stated.

"That'd be perfect." Givens nodded and stalked away.

"Wow, he likes you," Asuka commented. "Normally he's a lot meaner."

"So I gathered," Morris returned politely.

"Well, I have to get back to work and Misha has a synch test," Asuka stated. "It was nice meeting you." Morris nodded and Asuka led the blond away.

"What are you thinking?" Shinji asked.

"He'll bring only his best to make Section-2 look strong," Morris replied. "It'll give us a good chance to look at what we're up against." Shinji nodded. "He doesn't like you one bit. He hid it well, but really hates your guts."

"Of course he does," Shinji stated. "We're private, he's not."

"Oh, it's a lot more than that," Morris corrected. "Couldn't you have tried to play nice?"

"What can I say, I'm a mean person."

"Ha, ha." Morris began heading towards the conference rooms. "Did you get a look at our friend's weaponry?"

"They're organized enough to have standard-issue," Shinji stated. "All I've seen so far is 5.56mm 416s and .45-caliber 1911s along with some various heavy weapons."

"What about NERV?" Morris pressed.

"Glock 9mms and Steyr MPi 69s," Shinji stated. A plan struck hard and froze him in mid-gesture.

"Uh, oh." That broke Shinji from his trance.

"What?"

"You have a plan," Morris stated, "a really nasty one that fucks over everybody except yourself."

"How can you tell?"

"You're grinning."

"I'm not. . ." Shinji trailed off as he realized that he was grinning. "Well, I won't fuck over everybody."

"Like I said: uh, oh."

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. Yo, been a while. Sorry about that, I kind of go where my muse is. Anyway, I figured that I needed to start tying up a few of the dozen-or-so stories I have still running. Well, that and I keep getting threats that I better start updating some of these stories. I hope I can get around to all of them shortly. I think this one only has another chapter or two before it's all over. Place your bets. I'll give you hundred to one that Shinji and Mana live happily ever after.

Until next time folks!

Cynical, out.


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